Newly appointed captain Josh Weller won the toss and, on a hot and sunny afternoon at Burghley Park, elected to bat first. His decision was quickly vindicated as openers James Laud and Keyan Gace took full advantage of the excellent batting conditions, dispatching the City CC bowlers to all parts of the ground.

The pair put on a commanding opening stand of 198, with Gace playing fluently before falling agonisingly short of a century—caught behind off the bowling of M. Mughal for a brilliant 96 from just 83 balls.

Making his debut for Burghley Park, Ben Silver strode to the crease and immediately looked at home, continuing the assault on the visiting attack. Laud soon reached a composed and stylish century before being trapped LBW for 103 off 84 balls. Silver powered his way to a rapid 50 from 35 deliveries, but a middle-order collapse saw Burghley tumble from 274-3 to 317 all out.

In response, City CC started brightly with an opening partnership of 49, scoring at better than a run a ball and keeping up with the required rate of 7.1 an over. Half-centuries from M. Saif, M. Tyyib, and M. Mughal kept the visitors in contention as the game see-sawed throughout the innings.

However, Burghley struck at key moments, with wickets falling at regular intervals. The turning point came courtesy of a moment of brilliance from James Laud, who pulled off a spectacular juggling catch at cow corner—momentarily stepping over the boundary rope before leaping back into play to complete the dismissal.

In a spin-heavy attack, Mo Azhar bowled with great control, returning figures of 1 for 34 from his 9 overs, while Laud capped a fine all-round performance with 3 for 50 from his 9 overs. Their efforts ultimately saw City CC fall short by 25 runs in what was a fiercely contested and entertaining fixture.

It marks an excellent start to the season for Burghley Park Sunday 1st XI, who will be looking to carry this momentum into their next match at home against Ufford Park on 18th May.

This match was sponsored by Bishopsgate Corporate Finance