Having lost the toss and been asked to bat on a wicket that looked helpful for the seamers, Burghley set about their first taste of premier league cricket. Josh Gallimore was the first man in the club’s history to score a run in the premier league, but soon after also became the first wicket too. Scott Tite found a way through the big man's defences for just 2. Ryan Gilmour and Mike Hobbiss then batted with patience and maturity against a bowling attack not offering many scoring opportunities. They took their partnership beyond 50, starting to build a very solid platform for the rest of the batting lineup. The score had moved to 77 before Sleaford re-introduced Tite to the attack, which reaped immediate rewards. He found a way through Gilmour with a ball that stayed a little low, before Hobbiss was caught on the pull by Sanders and the two set batsmen had to depart for 30 and 37 respectively. Pete Foster and new addition to the squad Ewan Williams looked to rebuild after Sleaford had wrestled the momentum back. Scoring was again difficult to come by in the early stages of their innings, but some loose deliveries were starting to creep in which the pair were able to put away with ease. Foster was starting to move through the gears and made his way to 50 from 44 deliveries in the 37th over, taking the score to 160 in the process. From here, the pair really started to kick on. Helped by some lacklustre bowling from the visitors, coupled with some excellent ball striking, Foster and Williams moved their partnership beyond 100 and 150 before Burghley's keeper-batsman was raising the bat once again for a magnificent 100 from just 69 deliveries. Soon after, Williams bought up his well-made 50 from 80 balls and took the score beyond 250. Williams (51), Chris Logan (0) and Alex Ashwin (6) all fell trying to add quick runs at the end of the innings Burghley closing their 50 overs 267-6 with Foster unbeaten on a sensational 117 from just 79 deliveries, Nick fisher finished 0*. Scott Tite the pick of the Sleaford bowlers with 5-30 from his 10 overs.

As was the case last season, the opening bowling duties were with skipper Ashwin and overseas Logan, and the pair set about trying to make a fast start with the ball. Logan managed just that, claiming the wicket of Mansfield for just 4, caught well by Gilmour at slip. After the early success, the duo of Aayush Patel and Sam Moorby started to pile the pressure on the Burghley attack. Their partnership was nearing 100 before the introduction of the ageless Mohammed Azhar started to wrestle back the initiative. He first removed Patel for 83 from 58 balls, before deceiving Sleaford’s Kiwi import Callum McLachlan (3) with flight and guile. Ryan Gilmour, (1-56) bowling in tandem with Azhar then joined in on the act. He trapped Moorby LBW for 45; the score now 142-4 and suddenly the momentum was firmly with the home team, but the game very much still in the balance. Sensing an opening, Ashwin re-introduced the pace of Chris Logan, and the decision was rewarded immediately when he found the edge to remove Tom Sanders for 4. After a three over burst from Logan, the attention was back on M. Azhar. With all the tricks in the book, it was the low full toss that was the downfall of Andy Hibberd (13) when he was caught by a diving Ashwin at mid on. Sleaford captain Drew Harbron came out to join Matthew Wing but the pair did not last long. At the start of Azhar's next over, a mix up between the batters left Wing stranded halfway down and run out by Gilmour for 9. Three balls later, Azhar and Ashwin were in the action again when D. Harbron found the home captain on the long on boundary to give Azhar his 4th wicket. This soon became a historic 5 wicket haul when K. Harbron drilled the ball straight back at the Burghley veteran and the return catch was smartly taken. Azhar finished his 10 overs with figures of 10-2-31-5. Having been 120-1, Sleaford now found themselves 184-9 and the game slipping away from them. A game defining spell from the ever-reliable Azhar. Despite some resistance from Tite and Peck, seeing off the remaining overs of Logan (2-45) and Ahsan Azhar (4 Overs 0-13), Burghley’s captain Alex Ashwin was able to wrap up the game, bowling Tite for 19 and SCC were all out for 216.

A full 25-point haul for the Bears from their first ever premier league outing and a big stepping stone to take forward into next week's trip to Bracebridge Heath CC.

This match was sponsored by Melton Mortgage Solutions.