Alex Ashwin won the toss and as so often this season, elected to bat on a used wicket. Josh Weller joined James Laud at the top of the order this week but unfortunately didn't last long. Kester Sainsbury found the back of the Burghley openers bat as he looked to flick down to fine leg, only for the ball to end up in the hands of Matt Mills at 2nd Slip. Olly Billington also came and went quickly, adding 12 in just 10 balls before offering a simple catch to Aashar Mehmood at slip from the bowling of Sainsbury. The England international soon had 3 when Laud offered catching practice to Mustafa Mughal at point. Laud was fortunate not to have been run out a few overs earlier, when watching Weller completing his charity 10k around the boundary, and forgetting about being inside his crease as a throw came in.

Then came the partnership that swung the game in Burghley’s favour. From 53-3 Sam Potter and Pete Foster combined to add over 150. Potter was the more aggressive of the pair, looking to put the pressure back on the bowlers, including launching Dan George for a huge 6 well over the pavilion to bring up his 50 in just 39 balls. Foster, on the other hand, was content to rotate the strike at the other end, seamlessly moving towards a half century of his own. Potter, who looked back to his fluent best, didn't let the landmark get in his way as he continued to punish any loose deliveries from the Deeping attack. Foster moved past his 50 from 69 deliveries before Potter bought up a remarkable 100 from 75 balls including 12 fours and 5 sixes. Unfortunately, the very next ball saw the end of his innings when Mehmood found a way through his defences. Pete Hewat joined Foster but found scoring tough, before falling for 2, caught at long on from the bowling of Mughal. The same can be said for Oscar Jackson who could add just 6 from 26 balls before he was caught by Mills from the bowling of Josh Smith. With just 8 over remaining, Logan was thrust in to bat to add some late impetus but could only manage 8. I'm the meantime, Foster had moved effortlessly to his third century of the season and was not content to stop there. He and Gareth Hook added a further unbeaten 53 to the total in the final 6 overs, Hook finishing 18* and Foster 135* to bring Burghley up to 326-7.

With a good total on the board, the attention now turned to the bowlers. Market Deeping had struck 321 in the return fixture earlier in the season before rain abandoned the game, so Burghley knew that this was not a foregone conclusion. Logan was back from Croatia and back with the new ball in hand to partner his captain and it was the Kiwi who made the early inroads. Connor Gillet was caught well by Ashwin after fending off a ball that popped sharply at the Deeping opener for 1. Logan decided that the wicket that had been prepared wasn't worth using for his next 2 wickets as he removed both Josh Smith Sam Jarvis with full tosses, one caught by Pete Hewat in the sty and the other caught and bowled.

At 53-3, Deeping were in an identical position to the one that Burghley found themselves in just a few hours earlier and what followed was also remarkably similar. Aashar Mehmood and George woods began to pile up the runs for the home side. Mehmood was scoring freely and moved past first his half century and then an exceptional century from just 64 deliveries, before Sam Potter trapped the Pakistani overseas LBW for 103.
As they say, one brings two, but in this case one bought many. In the very next over, Hook removed Woods caught behind by Billington for 41, before having Mughal LBW for 1 with the final delivery of his 10 over spell. Potter then added a second wicket, getting Dan George caught and bowled for 2 before James Laud removed Mills with his first delivery, Hewat taking the catch at short mid-wicket. When Laud also removed Tom Anderson, 177-3 had become 199-9 and the game was all but wrapped up. Despite some late resistance from Sainsbury (4* from 31 deliveries) and Tom Berwick (8 from 13) skipper Ashwin took the final wicket when Berwick chipped to Biggs at point.

The win keeps Burghley in 5th position before 3rd placed Grantham visit The Park this weekend.