National Counties Championship Final 2022 Day Four Review

Berkshire won the National Counties Championship for the ninth time in their history by virtue of their first innings lead in a soggy drawn final against Lincolnshire at West Bromwich Dartmouth.

With more than two-thirds of the match lost to rain, the title was decided on the first innings totals with Berkshire, who passed Lincolnshire’s 176 on the third evening, eventually extending their lead to 134 before they were dismissed for 310 on the final morning.

It was Berkshire’s fifth Championship title in six seasons and their tenth National Counties silverware in the same period to go with four National Counties Trophy titles and the T20 competition in 2018. They are the first side to win the Championship and Trophy in the same season on three occasions.

Lincolnshire began the final day knowing that the only way that they could deny Berkshire was to take their last three wickets quickly, thrash enough runs to get a lead before declaring and then take ten more wickets in a barely a session.

It was a highly unlikely scenario which became even more improbable when they were kept in the field for the first hour as Dan O’Driscoll completed a maiden half century for Berkshire and Tom Nugent followed up his six first innings wickets with 33 not out.

O’Driscoll eventually went LBW to Jordan Cook’s off-spin and seamer James Dobson picked up the wickets of Luke Beaven and Max Uttley.

Nugent struck early in Lincolnshire’s second innings when he had Joe Kendall caught behind in the third over but Jaden Fell and Jack Timby halved the deficit before another downpour during the lunch interval brought a rain-ravaged match to a watery end.

National Counties Championship final

Final day of four

West Bromwich Dartmouth: Lincolnshire 176 (Tom Nugent 6-66) & 65- drew with Berkshire 310 (Euan Woods 129, Dan O’Driscoll 57).