Buckinghamshire suffered a first defeat in their defence of the  NCCA Cluberly Championship as they went down by eight wickets to Northumberland at Benwell Hill in Eastern Division One.

Having fallen just short of victory against Suffolk in their first-ever match in the top flight two weeks ago, Northumberland made no mistake this time by bowling Buckinghamshire out for 175 in their second innings then chasing down a tricky target of 221 thanks to an unbeaten century from former Durham batter Sol Bell.

Slow left-armers Oli McGee (four for 25) and Joe Stuart (three for 43) spun out Buckinghamshire despite a half-century from Ewan Cox with the last six wickets going down for 33.

Bell and another former Durham batter, Harry Crawshaw (38), launched Northumberland’s chase with an opening partnership of 83 and Bell and Jonny Bushnell then completed the job with an unbroken third wicket stand of 105.

Bell compiled his second Championship century and finished unbeaten on 106 from 155 balls with 11 fours with Bushnell following his six wickets in Buckinghamshire’s first innings with 57 not out.

Northumberland’s win took them to the top of Eastern Division One nudging a point ahead of Staffordshire and two clear of Buckinghamshire.

Staffordshire needed just three overs of the final day at Checkley to take the last two Cambridgeshire wickets and wrap up an innings and 111 runs victory.

Paceman Sam Keeling-Wright bowled Aum Patel on his way to match figures of 13 for 101, Staffordshire’s best against Cambridgeshire in 120 years and against anyone since David Follett took 14 for 56 against Bedfordshire in 2001.

Western Division champions Devon made it two wins from two at the start of their final defence with an 86 runs victory over Oxfordshire at Banbury.

Oxfordshire seamer Jack Warner claimed a five wicket haul on his Championship debut to finish with impressive match figures of nine for 66 to dismiss Devon for 188.

But Warner was trumped by Thorverton seamer George Daldorph who bowled Devon to victory with five for 34 in just his second Championship match.

Daldorph bowled Amorgh Karpe, who made 99 in the first innings, with the first ball of Oxfordshire’s second innings when they set off in pursuit of a target of 210.

Julian Laird got Oxfordshire back on track but the innings quickly unravelled after he was bowled by slow left-armer Callum Harvey for 26. Daldorph then accounted for George Tait, Sravan Konidena and Max Mannering in the space of ten balls as Oxfordshire slipped from 79 for four to 81 for eight.

Luke Hayes delayed the inevitable before he was last man out for 37 but Devon banked another win to go 23 points clear at the top of the division although they have played one more game than both Wiltshire and Berkshire.

Wiltshire marked their return to Western Division One after a five-year absence by beating Herefordshire by 233 runs at Eastnor.

Half centuries from Luke Powell (89) and Ben Chapman-Lilley (74) made Wiltshire wait for victory but seamer Sam Freestone, who finished with four for 76, struck a decisive blow when he had Chapman LBW and broke a stubborn fifth wicket partnership of 55 with Luke Tulacz.

Powell provided the entertainment with five sixes and ten fours in his breezy 72-ball innings before he was last out, trying to sweep Charan Chahal for another six as Herefordshire, like Oxfordshire, suffered a second successive defeat.

Shropshire secured their first Championship victory in two years but were made to work hard for their six wickets success by Wales NC on the final day at Bridgnorth in Western Division Two.

A maiden Championship century from Rhodri Lewis and a composed career-best 89 from former Surrey all-rounder Luke Griffiths made Shropshire wait until almost lunch for the first of the five wickets they needed to wrap up Wales’ second innings.

Roman Walker made the breakthrough and broke a sixth wicket partnership of 146 when Griffiths popped a return catch and Alex Russell quickly followed. But Wales’ captain Cameron Herring, batting down the order because of a gashed had sustained fielding, gave Lewis further valuable support before last man Matthew Marriott struck a quickfire 26 to stretch the innings to half an hour before tea.

Shropshire were left to chase 170 in a minimum of 47 overs but they needed only 28 of them with Joe Johnson (64) and Seb Scott (58 not out from 28 balls) adding 51 for the fourth wicket.

Johnson, who launched the chase by pulling seamer Jonathan Davies for successive huge sixes, is now set to join Sussex on a short-term contract for the remainder of their Metro Bank Cup campaign.

Dorset and Cheshire fought out a tense draw in the other Western Division Two match at Wimborne.

Cheshire captain David Wainwright led a solid second innings batting display with an unbeaten half-century with supporting innings from Luke McCoy (46), Sam Perry (41) and Liam Clorley (35).

Wainwright’s declaration set Dorset a stiff target of 344 from what would have been 49 overs which they showed little interest in pursuing.

But Cheshire briefly glimpsed victory when Dorset slipped from 67 for two to 74 for five following the loss of Dylan Church for 40. But Ed Bartlett and Mo Abbas blocked out seven consecutive maidens at the start of the final hour to close the door on Cheshire.

Lincolnshire went top of Eastern Division Two by beating Hertfordshire by 192 runs at Hitchin.

Lincolnshire had given themselves all day to take the last nine Hertfordshire wickets and they needed only 51 overs to finish the job.

A half-century on debut from Henry Hawkins and cameos from Ben Clifford (36) and Cole Seggery (28) and Dominic Chatfield (25) delayed the inevitable but not for long enough to save Hertfordshire from another defeat in a season that has seen them win just twice – both in the T20 competition – in all formats.

There were three wickets apiece for seamer Matty Mills and leg-spinner Seamus Nazir in a maximum points win which took Lincolnshire a point clear of Norfolk, who completed an innings victory over Bedfordshire on Monday.

NCCA CLUBERLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Day Three

Eastern Division One

Benwell Hill: Buckinghamshire 257 (Billy Dodds 79, Ed Bragg 57 not out, Conner Haddow 42, Jonny Bushnell 6-88) & 175 (Ewan Cox 51, Oli McGee 4-25), Northumberland 212 (Ross Whitfield 57) &  221-2 (Sol Bell 106 not out, Jonny Bushnell 57 not out). Northumberland (21pts) beat Buckinghamshire (6pts) by eight wickets.

Checkley: Cambridgeshire 152 (Sam Keeling-Wright 8-60) & 198 (Ben Claydon 58, Alex Peirson 44, Sam Keeling-Wright 5-41), Staffordshire 461-5 (Reeve Evitts 207 not out, Tom Moulton 96, James Kettleborough 42).  Staffordshire (24pts) beat Cambridgeshire (2pts) by an innings and 111 runs.

Western Division One

Eastnor: Wiltshire 404 (Cyrus Shafi 146, Stan Brown 112) & 323-8 dec (Will Naish 70, Cyrus Shafi 54, Tom Cheater 45, Jake Goodwin 40, Taylor Cornall 5-110), Herefordshire 206 (Joel Cox 80, Freddie Ammonds 45) & 228 (Luke Powell 89, Ben Chapman-Lilley 74, Taylor Cornall 42, Sam Freestone 4-76). Wiltshire (24pts) beat Herefordshire (5pts) by 233 runs.

Banbury: Devon 287 (Sam Elstone 52, Seb Linnitt 51, Ben Privett 49, Jack Warner 4-36) & 188 (Sam Elstone 41, Jack Warner 5-30), Oxfordshire 266 (Amogh Karpe 99, Hayden Rossouw 51, Callum Harvey 5-87) & 123 (George Daldorph 5-34). Devon (23pts) beat Oxfordshire (6pts) by 86 runs.

Eastern Division Two

Hitchin: Lincolnshire 449-8 (Sam Evans 118, Pranav Pothula 113, Sam Jarvis 92, Ben Waring 4-133) & 210-6 dec (Nic Keast 48), Hertfordshire 255 (Cole Seggery 89, Jack Plom 65, Matty Mills 4-47) & 212 (Henry Hawkins 52). Lincolnshire (24pts) beat Hertfordshire (5pts) by 192 runs.

Sprowston: Bedfordshire 123 (Andy Hanby 4-38) & 209 (Jake Tarling 46, Zaid Faleel 43, Callum Metcalf 4-41), Norfolk 394-6 (Charlie Hood 105, Arthur Wilcox 102, Enoch Uthayarajan 87, Sam Arthurton 42 not out). Norfolk (24pts) beat Bedfordshire (2pts) by an innings and 62 runs. 

Western Division Two

Wimborne: Cheshire 407-9 (Sam Perry 162, Henry Dobson 52, Kesh Fonseka 45, Mo Abbas 4-89) & 301-7 dec (David Wainwright 67 not out, Luke McCoy 46, Henry Murray 42, Sam Perry 41), Dorset 364 (Finn Gordon 172, Luke Webb 50) & 91-6 (Dylan Church 40). Dorset (12pts) drew with Cheshire (12pts)

Bridgnorth: Wales NC 166 (Roman Walker 8-44) & 351 (Rhodri Lewis 108, Luke Griffiths 89), Shropshire 348 (Finn Jones 78, Harry Chander 71, Seb Scott 60, Roman Walker 52) & 175-4 (Joe Johnson 64, Seb Scott 58 not out). Shropshire (24pts) beat Wales NC (4pts) by six wickets.