Buckinghamshire and Devon will meet in the final of the NCCA Cluberly Championship for the second year running and third time in four seasons.

Buckinghamshire retained their Eastern Division One title on a tense final day of the regular season and will now make the familiar trip to West Bromwich Dartmouth, venue for the four-day final which starts on September 6.

Buckinghamshire needed just 15 balls of the final day to score the 17 runs they needed to complete the formalities of their victory over Cambridgeshire at Peterborough.

They lost Billy Dodds, bowled by Aum Patel for 13, but an unbeaten 36 from debutant Jack Bates saw them home by eight wickets which then meant they had to monitor from afar events at Stafford where Suffolk had the chance to overtake them by beating Staffordshire.

It was a similar situation to 12 months ago when Buckinghamshire needed Cambridgeshire to deny Staffordshire victory at Peterborough which they did with their last pair at the crease. This time it was Staffordshire that Buckinghamshire were rooting for and they obliged by batting through 74 overs to thwart Suffolk’s push for victory.

Suffolk acting captain Dan Shanks’s declaration gave his bowlers plenty of time to take ten wickets but was not generous enough to lure Staffordshire into trying to chase down 371 which would have been 43 more than the highest fourth innings total in their history.

Staffordshire survived, with a few alarms along the way, to end the match on 279 for seven with an excellent batting pitch ultimately frustrating Suffolk who missed out on a place a first Championship final since 2005.

Darren Ironside’s 100 not out, his second century in as many matches and fifth of his career, took Suffolk to 325 for five before Shanks declared. Staffordshire were given a solid start by captain James Kettleborough with 71 from 98 balls but when he and Dan Lincoln departed in the space of 15 balls, the focus switched to the draw.

Callum Leese played enterprisingly for his 54-ball 50, which included ten fours, before he went LBW to Tom Harper and Staffordshire stumbled when Michael Hill was caught behind off Shanks and Sam Atkinson lifted Tom Harper to mid-on.

But Jack Redman and Liam Hurt ignored the close fielders clustered around the bat to bat through the last nine overs with Hurt lifting Harper for six over long on before Shanks admitted victory had eluded Suffolk.

Lincolnshire clinched the Eastern Division Two title and an immediate return to the top-flight following relegation 12 months ago after they drew with Cumbria at Cleethorpes.

Lincolnshire began the day needing two points to secure promotion and the achieved that before lunch when they banked two batting bonus points before they were dismissed for 252 in their first innings.

With the first day lost to rain and Cumbria’ own title hopes extinguished on Monday the draw was the predictable result and the sides shook hands in the final hour with Cumbria having cleared the first innings deficit of 99.

In the other Eastern Division Two match Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire played out a thriller at Flitwick where the match was drawn with the scores level.

Hertfordshire were set a target of 272 but ended one run short with two wickets intact after Jack Plom leg glanced the last ball from his former Essex team-mate Jamal Richards for four.

After Hertfordshire led by just one run on first innings the match, in effect became a one innings contest with Bedfordshire setting up the last afternoon chase when they declared at 272 for eight with Shaynan Patel leading the way with 84.

Hertfordshire responded with half-centuries from Arjun Patel (76) and Ed Hales (67) but lost three wickets for seven runs at a crucial stage before Plom (36 not out) and Jake Wickham added 44 for the ninth wicket in a gripping finale.

Wales NC player/coach Brad Wadlan made a century in his final innings before retirement to help set up a first win of the season over Cheshire at Alderley Edge.

Wadlan, who will continue to coach Wales, brought the curtain down on an illustrious 20-season career by making 113 not out, his 12th Championship century, and passing 4,000 career runs in the competition in the process.

Cheshire were set 394 for victory but they got barely halfway with slow left-armer Rhodri taking five for 45 to finish with nine wickets in a high-scoring match. Wadlan claimed his last wicket with his left arm spin when he bowled Seb Botes for three.

Cheshire captain David Wainwright delayed Wales’ victory celebrations with a battling half-century but when he departed, bowled by Lewis with the first ball after tea, his side were left with the Western Division wooden spoon for the first time.

Western Division Two champions Cornwall ended their Championship campaign unbeaten with a draw against Dorset at Wimborne.

All-rounder Will MacVicar (86) and Cornwall captain Paul Smith (84) shared a sixth wicket partnership of 143 before Smith declared on 362 for eight which set Dorset an improbable 410 in a minimum of 37 overs.

Dorset were happy to bat out time, reaching 151 for three with Jay Terry unbeaten on 62, when the sides shook hands on the draw.

NCCA CLUBERLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Day Three

Eastern Division One

Peterborough: Cambridgeshire 291 (Tom Cullen 86, Will Routledge 76, Conner Haddow 4-90) & 66 (Matt Pardoe 5-7), Buckinghamshire 308 (Matt Pardoe 72, Daksh Sabherwal 62, Archie Dodds 55, Aum Patel 4-62) & 50-2. Buckinghamshire (23pts) beat Cambridgeshire (7pts) by eight wickets.

Stafford: Suffolk 398 (Nico Boje 91, Josh Cantrell 88, Alex Maynard 79, Sam Keeling-Wright 5-117) & 325-5 dec (Darren Ironside 100 not out, Alex Maynard 72, Nico Boje 50, Hamad Arshad 46 not out), Staffordshire 353-9 dec (Dan Lincoln 165, Matt Morris 125, Josh Cantrell 4-40) & 279-7 (James Kettleborough 71, Callum Leese 50, Michael Hill 45, Tom Harper 4-92). Staffordshire (12pts) drew with Suffolk (12pts).

Eastern Division Two

Flitwick: Bedfordshire 284 (Zaid Faleel 63, Joe Lowe 58 not out, Danyaal Khalid 53, Ben Waring 4-49, Jake Wickham 4-87) & 272-8 dec (Shaynan Patel 84, Rohit Mehmi 44 not out, Jamal Richards 40, Jake Gordon 5-107, Hertfordshire 285 (Ben Clifford 80, Sam Davis 53, Jamal Richards 4-83) &  271-8 (Arjun Patel 76, Ed Hales 67, Jamal Richards 4-85). Bedfordshire (11pts) drew with Hertfordshire (11pts)

Cleethorpes: Cumbria 154 (Matt Mills 5-42, Tom Shephard 5-44) & 121-4, Lincolnshire 253 (Sam Jarvis 82, Tom Keast 46). Lincolnshire (10pts) drew with Cumbria (4pts).

Western Division Two

Alderley Edge: Wales NC 487-2 (Mat Ryan 241, Tegid Phillips 155 not out) & 287-6 dec (Brad Wadlan 113 not out, Andy Dufty 5-100), Cheshire381-9 (Kesh Fonseka 164, Sam Perry 63, Rhodri Lewis 4-96) & 202 (David Wainwright 50, Alex Money 44, Rhodri Lewis 5-45). Wales NC (24pts) beat Cheshire (4pts) by 191 runs.

Wimborne: Cornwall 294 (Alfie MacDonald 74, Elliot Hooper 65, Billy Taylor 62) &  362-8 dec (Will MacVicar 86, Paul Smith 84, Karl Leathley 48), Dorset 247 (Dylan Church 60, Ralph Dunne 46, Will Chesterman 44) & 151-3 (Jay Terry 62 not out). Dorset (10pts) drew with Cornwall (11pts.

Finished on Monday

Western Division One

Eastnor: Herefordshire 138 (Luke Tulacz 60 not out) & 234 (Luke Tulacz 65, Henry Hardinges 64, Andy Rishton 5-60), Berkshire 327 (James Isbell 151, Charlie Dunnett 52, Roshan Venkataraman 4-84) & 49-2. Berkshire (24pts) beat Herefordshire (4pts) by eight wickets.

South Wilts CC: Devon 310 (Ben Privett 95, Elliot Hamilton 66, Sam Elstone 63, Jake Lintott 5-89) & 189 (Joe King 6-94), Wiltshire 92 (Will Naish 45) & 213 (Jake Lintott 62, George Daldorph 4-27). Devon (23pts) beat Wiltshire (4pts) by 194 runs.