Burghley Park made the trip to Abbey Lawns on Saturday for a contest that had just about everything: wickets, run-outs, controversy, rain and James Laud once again carrying the bat like a man possessed. Unfortunately for the visitors, Bourne emerged victorious by 18 runs via DLS after the weather had the final say.

With ominous clouds hovering over Lincolnshire for most of the afternoon, skipper Alex Ashwin had little hesitation in putting Bourne in after winning the toss. Pete Ruffell and Xavier Wildsmith immediately justified the decision with a superb opening spell that had the hosts wobbling early.

Ruffell claimed a moment he will not forget in a hurry when he picked up his first league wicket. Jack Berry (10) was beaten all ends up as the ball jagged back sharply through the gate and cannoned into the stumps, sparking jubilant celebrations from the Burghley side. At the other end, Wildsmith soon joined the fun when Sam Evison (23) could only sky a miscued effort high into the air. For a split second, Mike Hobbiss and Sam Potter both appeared to leave the catch for the other before Olly Billington stormed in with the authority of a man claiming the last pint at the bar and safely pouched it behind the stumps.

Jordan Temple and Bourne skipper Dan Freeman threatened to steady things, but Burghley continued to chip away. Potter produced a sharp short ball that Temple could only nudge tamely to point, before Ryan Gilmour worked his magic against Freeman. The Kiwi tempted the Bourne captain down the track with lovely flight, beat him completely and Billington whipped off the bails with delight.

Potter then removed Carl Wilson for 2. Fortunately for Burghley, he had not added to his score since being reprieved by Billington a couple of overs earlier

The fielding highlight of the day soon followed, courtesy of Pete Foster, who continues to prove he may genuinely possess skills in more dimensions than the average human. Ben Woodward pushed to mid-off and attempted a quick single, only for Foster—usually seen wearing the gloves—to charge in, gather cleanly and hit the stumps direct with Woodward comfortably short.

When Potter found the edge of Rob Dunn's bat and Billington took another sharp catch behind, Bourne had slumped to 109-7 and Burghley were firmly in control.

But cricket has a habit of punishing sides that do not quite finish the job.

Archie Stroud and Yuvi Ranaut dug in admirably for the hosts in what proved to be the defining partnership of the innings. Ranaut looked far from comfortable early on, but he survived long enough to frustrate Burghley as the pair added 56 valuable runs. Laud eventually broke through when Ranaut edged behind and Potter completed a good catch at slip, but the damage had been done.

Ray Toole added a handy unbeaten 18 late on before Wildsmith returned to clean up both Stroud and Colin Cheer, dismissing Bourne for exactly 200.

At the halfway stage, Burghley would have been delighted with their effort.

The chase could hardly have started better. Ryan Gilmour whipped Dan Freeman through midwicket for four from the very first ball before Burghley took 10 from the opening over. Unfortunately, Freeman responded in brutal fashion moments later. Gilmour shouldered arms to one that absolutely did not deserve such respect and watched his stumps rearranged behind him.

Freeman struck again shortly afterwards when Hobbiss was trapped by a vicious low full toss that proved impossible to dig out.

With the innings wobbling slightly, James Laud and Pete Foster rebuilt calmly and intelligently against disciplined Bourne bowling in increasingly awkward conditions. The pair added 49 before Jack Berry removed Foster for a well-made 23, holding onto a sharp caught-and-bowled chance.
Olly Billington then continued the recovery brilliantly alongside Laud. Billington was positive from the outset and the pair added another crucial 57 to drag Burghley right back into the contest. Eventually, Berry extracted steep bounce, found Billington's gloves and Wilson completed the catch.

Then came the game’s second spectacular run out — unfortunately for Burghley, this one went the other way.

Sam Potter tested the arm of the Bourne fielders with a quick single to mid-on, but Ben Woodward once again produced a direct hit. Quite how umpire Geoff Church was able to give the Burghley all-rounder out remains open to debate because, in his efforts to make his ground, Potter collided with the official and left them both in a heap on the turf. The outcome was Potter walking back to the pavilion and Geoff emerging with little more than a slightly swollen lip.

Through all of this, James Laud remained immovable.

Once again, the Burghley number three anchored the innings magnificently, mixing composure with calculated aggression as he passed another deserved half-century. At 155-5, with Laud still there and rain looming ever larger, the game was finely balanced.
But Bourne seized the key moments.

Ewan Williams picked out Temple on the square-leg boundary before Alex Ashwin was undone by a delivery that stayed alarmingly low—a ball nasty enough to reserve him a prime spicy seat for 19 September.

With Burghley now slightly behind the DLS score and dark clouds rapidly approaching, Laud was forced to accelerate. Having battled superbly for 83, he finally perished while trying to lift the scoring rate, and with his dismissal the game effectively slipped away.

The rain soon arrived with Burghley on 173-9, leaving the visitors 18 runs short on DLS and denying them any final dramatic push for victory.

This match was sponsored by Caterfix.