On a bright and warm day at Burghley Park, skipper James Biggs won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite having played on the same pitch yesterday in which seam movement from the new ball was extremely prevalent, Biggs backed his batters to score runs in what was otherwise great batting conditions.

Unfortunately for Burghley, the wheels began to come off before they’d even started turning. Laud got the game started in a positive fashion, hitting the first ball for four and quickly following this up with another, before he was late on a hook shot and offered up an easy caught and bowled to Toby Rees off the final ball of the first over. 8/1. Ryan Gilmour was given an early life as he presented a chance to square leg, only to put it down. Ollie Dring had replaced Laud, but only lasted one ball as he edged behind from the bowling of Sheehan. 9/2. Keyan Gace then joined Gilmour out in the middle, but Ryan was soon making his was back to the pavilion after getting a ball that nipped away and took the top of his off stump. 19/3. Fresh off a 50 yesterday, Hamish Bell was the next man in, and was soon on his way back again, and a back-of-a-length ball came into Bell and he gloved behind first ball – both Gilmour and Bell’s wickets falling to Rees. 19/4. Skipper Biggs joined Gace at the crease and was able to form a partnership of sorts. Both were looking to be watchful but capitalise on chances when they were presented. Biggs was able to bring up a couple of boundaries off his legs before chopping on a delivery from outside off into his off-stump, becoming the fifth man to lose his wicket inside the first hour. 40/5. Hugo Bell replaced Biggs, but soon departed without troubling the scoring, facing another ball that moved off the pitch and clean bowled him. 40/6. Uppingham’s bowling continued to test Burghley, with Gace playing the line of the ball only to see it deviate off the pitch and past his outside edge a number of times. But the South-African remained patient and showed dogged determined qualities that shone through his innings. Youngster Sam Chapel’s stay was also brief, scoring 2 before he offered up another caught and bowled chance, this time taken by Ryan Sheehan, giving him his 4th wicket of the match. 46/7. Dan Pellett was the next man to partner Gace, but like his predecessors his stay was brief, scoring 4 before hitting one straight at Mark Cox at Mid-Off. 56/8. By now most players were thinking along the lines we were in for a quick game, but David Popple had different ideas. Departing from his usual aggressive mentality, Popple played the situation perfectly. With Gace settled at the other end and starting to accumulate runs, Popple understood his duty to support his partner and pick up runs when chances presented themselves to him. Between them the pair began to drag Burghley back into the contest, frustrating the Uppingham players who must’ve thought their batting innings wasn’t far away. Keyan continued to pick up runs, and his run-rate accelerated too. Following the changes to the Uppingham bowling attack, Gace began to find the boundary with greater regularity, and was soon raising his bat for another Burghley Park 50. At the other end Popple continued to exercise restraint and resist any big shots, rotating the strike and keeping out the good balls. Before too long the first batting point was ticked off, and the next two points soon followed as Gace began to free his hands, sending the ball over the boundary, as he moved closer to another 100. Facing a free-hit on 96, Gace acrobatically scooped the ball for four over the keeper’s head, including a tumbling roll after making contact with the ball, to bring up a quite sensational 100, and with it his team a more than fighting chance in a game that looked like it was heading only one way. As Popple’s confidence grew, he too was able to find the boundary, also taking advantage of a free hit to send the ball through cover and move his score into the 20s. However, Gace’s time was soon up as he chipped the ball to mid-wicket from the bowling of Sam Rees, having scored an utterly brilliant 111 and his partnership with Popple being worth a fantastic137! 193/9. Sadly Mo Azhar joined the list of ducks as he chipped his second ball straight to mid-on, leaving Popple stranded on a very well made 28* - his score alone not telling the full story of the contribution. 193 ao. However, this meant that Burghley had miraculously managed to go from 56/8 to 193 all out.

Buoyed by the comeback shown with the bat, and knowing the pitch would assist if the right areas were hit, Burghley started their bowling innings positively. Hugo Bell took the new ball partnering with Dan Pellett, with the former showing good pace and the latter extracting good movement through the air and the pitch. After a loose couple of opening overs, the breakthrough soon came. Hugo Bell found his rhythm, found the right area and found his brother at second slip as the Bells combined to take the first wicket. In a mirror to the first innings, Uppingham’s number 3’s stay was for a solitary ball, as a brilliant delivery from Bell found the edge and Ollie Dring claimed an easy catch behind to dismiss Uppingham’s overseas Hayden Brough for a golden duck, presenting Bell with a hat-trick opportunity. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to capitalise on his chance, but the over piled more pressure onto the visitors, which Pellett was able to support with tight bowling from the other end. Bell was able to claim his third wicket in identical fashion to his first, having Mark Cox caught at second slip by Hamish Bell and leaving the visitors on 36/3. As Bell began to tire, Mo Azhar was brought on to replace him and Dan Pellett continued to probe away from the Diana End. Dan was soon rewarded for his efforts, as he found the outside edge of Charlie Cox and the ball went once again into the safe hands of Hamish Bell. Pellett soon had his second with Dring taking the catch this time. Pellett finished his 9-over spell with figures of 2/30 – a great effort bowling straight through in the heat. Keyan’s leg-spin was introduced as replacement to Pellett, and spin at both ends continued the wicket taking trend. Azhar picked up 3 quick wickets, with two LBWs and a stunning diving catch from Gace – underlining the fact he’s pretty good at cricket. James Cross continued to show resistance for Uppingham, and was able to pass 50, but he continued to run out of partners. With two wickets remaining and the chance of a second 5fer in as many weeks, Bell was reintroduced, but struggled to get his rhythm back. He was able to claim his 4th wicket in the final over of his spell, finishing with excellent figures of 4/36. Harvey Stafford was the last man for Uppingham and he showed a determination to hang around with Cross. Between them they were able to add 30 runs before Gace found Stafford's outside edge in the final over of his spell, and Biggs was able to take the catch at slip. It was fitting that Keyan should take the final wicket, as it was his efforts that proved the difference in securing a brilliant win for the Sunday 1s.

Next Sunday we travel away to Werrington, with Stuart Biggs deputising as captain as skipper James Biggs will be away celebrating his marriage next Friday!

This match was sponsored by MBST Medical UK