Staffordshire, Bedfordshire, Devon and Berkshire reached Finals Day of the National Counties T20 competition after they won their respective Super 12s competitions today.

Staffordshire, the 2023 champions, eased to a seven wickets victory over Lincolnshire in the final – in effect a national quarter-final - at Wolverhampton with Bedfordshire winning by a similar margin at Sprowston to oust defending champions Norfolk.

Devon booked their place in their first Finals Day in eight years by beating Buckinghamshire by 86 runs at Exeter and Berkshire beat Cornwall by 52 runs at Wargrave.

They now progress to Finals Day at Wormsley on August 30 where the two semi-finals and final will be played.

In a change to this year’s format the four group winners not only earned the right to host a Super 12s event but also progressed immediately to the final at each of the four venues where they face the winners of an elimination match played earlier in the day.

At Wolverhampton, Lincolnshire edged out Cheshire by three runs in a gripping an eliminator but were unable to post a large enough total in the final to stretch Staffordshire.

Pace bowler Sam Keeling-Wright continued his excellent recent form with three for 17 in three overs while spinners Nils Priestley and Tom Brett returned combined figures of 8-1-30-1 to restrict Lincolnshire to an inadequate 115 for eight.

Staffordshire got home with almost five overs in hand with Priestley getting them a significant way to their target with 47 from 32 balls. Dan Lincoln completed the job with 29 not out.

In the eliminator a half-century from former Leicestershire batter Sam Evans, who shared a fourth wicket partnership of 71 with Pravan Pothula (29) helped Lincolnshire recover from losing three wickets in four balls without losing any momentum.

Tom Currie’s unbeaten 32 provided late acceleration and a target of 151 always looked daunting on a pitch on which batters struggled to time the ball.

But Cheshire were kept in the hunt by Alex Money whose 73 from 53 balls was his maiden half-century in the format. Cheshire were favourites when Money pulled Nic Keast for his only six, but when he was bowled attempting to repeat the dose next ball, Cheshire had control.

Archie Barraclough, who took three wickets in Lincolnshire’s innings, had to hit the last ball for six to snatch victory. He fell inches short when he picked out the longest boundary where deep midwicket fumbled the catch but restricted Barraclough to two. Money was the only Cheshire batter to reach 20.

Bedfordshire reached Finals Day for the first time since 2015 the hard way by winning both of their matches at Sprowston. First they accounted for Shropshire by 12 runs before ending Norfolk’s hopes of retaining their title in the final.

Former Scotland Under-19s batter Jamie Dunk was a key performer in both games with 57 against Shropshire followed by a match-winning 74 not out against Norfolk.

Seamer Oscar Phillips took three wickets in each of the matches with his three for 19 in the final and James Anson’s three for 16 restricting Norfolk to 139 for seven with 88 of those runs coming in a county record sixth wicket partnership of 88 between Arthur Wilcox (43) and Hamidullah Qadri (38).

Dunk helped Bedfordshire to pace their chase to perfection with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 51 with Nabil Moughal (22 not out) getting them home with two overs to spare.

In the eliminator Dunk (57) and Theo Robinson (49) added 93 for the second wicket before 23 not out at the end of the innings from Jamal Richards took Bedfordshire  to 170 for seven.

Shropshire’s chase was led by Andre Bradford with 77 but their  progress was checked by Phillips.

Devon’s victory in the Exeter final came after a spectacular collapse by Buckinghamshire who slumped from 59 for three to 63 for eight in the space of 15 balls.

Spinners Matt Whalley (four for 23) and Sam Read (three for 16) throttled Buckinghamshire’s pursuit of a target of 179 and they were eventually dismissed for 92.

Devon’s total of 178 for seven was very much a team effort with six batters – Ben Privett, Dan Pyle, Seb Linnitt, Rhys Davies, Cameron Kidd and Callum Harvey – making twenties but no-one reaching 30.

The Exeter eliminator was a low-scoring affair with four of Wiltshire’s top five batters making ducks as they were one for four in a dreadful start against Buckinghamshire.

Skipper Ed Young (22) was the exception and he and Jack Mynott (33) led the recovery before Wiltshire were dismissed for 107.

Buckinghamshire lost seven wickets in chasing down their modest target but got home with more than four overs to spare thanks to 33 from Ryan Friend.

Cornwall also collapsed in the final at Wargrave where 79 for three became 97 for eight against Berkshire spinners Nilesh Bhandari (three for 22) and Sulaiman Akhtar (three for 12).

Despite 47 from captain Paul Smith, Cornwall were bowled out for 122, well short of their target of 175.

Berkshire’s total of 174 for seven was built around 43 from Matt Dalrymple and useful supporting innings from Ben Salter (26), James Isbell (28) and Andrew MacEwen (26).

Cornwall, beaten finalists three years ago, beat Suffolk by four wickets in the eliminator at Wargrave thanks to their seventh wicket record partnership of 93 between Elliot Hooper (65 not out) and Billy Taylor (33 not out).

Cornwall were in trouble at 63 for six when the pair came together but steered them to victory with a ball to spare without losing another wicket.

Former Kent and Sussex all-rounder Hooper earlier took  three wickets which helped to restrict  Suffolk to 152 for eight with four batters – Alex Maynard, Alex Oxley, Jacob Marston and Darren Ironside, reaching 20 but no-one making 30.         

NATIONAL COUNTIES T20

Super 12s

Wolverhampton

Eliminator: Lincolnshire 150-7 (Sam Evans 53, Archie Barraclough 3-41), Cheshire 147-9 (Alex Money 73, Seamus Nazir 3-18). Lincolnshire won by three runs.

Final: Lincolnshire 115-8 (Sam Keeling-Wright 3-17), Staffordshire 119-3 (Nils Priestley 47). Staffordshire won by seven wickets.

Exeter

Eliminator: Wiltshire 107 (Teddy Fleming 3-10), Buckinghamshire 108-7. Buckinghamshire won by three wickets.

Final: Devon 178-7 (Archie Dodds 3-13), Buckinghamshire 92 (Matt Whalley 4-23, Sam Read 3-16). Devon won by 86 runs.

Wargrave

Eliminator: Suffolk 152-8 (Elliot Hooper 3-23, Bryn Evans 3-33), Cornwall 156-6 (Elliot Hooper 65 not out). Cornwall won by four wickets.

Final: Berkshire 174-7 (Matt Dalrymple 43), Cornwall 122 (Paul Smith 47, Sulaiman Akhtar 3-12, Nilesh Bhandari 3-22). Berkshire won by 52 runs.

Sprowston

Eliminator: Bedfordshire 170-7 (Jamie Dunk 57, Theo Robinson 49), Shropshire 158-9 (Andre Bradford 77, Oscar Phillips 3-34). Bedfordshire won by 12 runs.

Final: Norfolk 139-7 (Arthur Wilcox 43, James Anson 3-16, Oscar Phillips 3-19), Bedfordshire 140-3 (Jamie Dunk 74 not out). Bedfordshire won by seven wickets.