Cumberland came within a whisker of beating Norfolk in their Minor Counties clash at Furness.

The game finished tied and Cumberland had to settle for 14 points from the game with eleven going to their visitors.

Norfolk were bowled out for 267 in their second innings, meaning Cumberland needed to score 256 in a minimum of 40 overs to clinch victory.

With one over remaining they had got to within 11 of their target for the loss of six wickets - and when Jonathan Miles' first delivery was hammered over the ropes for six it looked as though the hosts might edge over the line.

The next three balls went for a total of four runs (leg bye, single, two), meaning the scores were level and Cumberland needed just one run from the final two deliveries to get the win.

The pressure was now well and truly on Miles but the seamer kept his cool, bowling a couple of balls in the block hole which the hosts were unable to get away.

They went for a run anyway from the last delivery of the match, but Miles completed the job with a run-out.
On the final day Norfolk had progressed from an overnight 137-4 to 267, with Peter Lambert chipping in with a useful 29 to back up Carl Rogers' contribution.

In reply Ikram Ullah (pictured left) led the way with his third Minor Counties Championship century, his unbeaten 107 coming from 99 balls and including 11 fours and a six.

Chris Brown was the pick of the Norfolk bowlers, returning figures of 4-74 in his 15 overs as Cumberland went on the attack.

In doing so he reached the milestone of 300 Minor Counties wickets, with 274 of them coming for Norfolk.

SCOREBOARD

Cumberland (14pts) drew with Norfolk (11 points).

Overnight: Norfolk 382-6 (J M Spelman 115, S S Athurton 86, H Bush 75 not out) and 137-4 (C Rogers 55 not out); Cumberland 394-8 (J Smith 92, M Brown 71, I Ullah 60, Miles 4-98).
•  Norfolk 2nd innings continued

C Rogers b Evans 82

P A Lambert c and b Baer 29

G W Walker c Ullah b Smith 13

C Brown c Pratt b Smith 17

J S Blake c Miller b Baer10

M P Eccles c Ullah b Thompson 7

J S Miles not out 2

Extras 42

Total (109 overs) 267

Fall: 1-98, 2-100, 3-132, 4-137, 5-205, 6-211, 7-244, 8-251, 9-264

Bowling: Dawson 14-3-48-0, Evans 6-1-15-1, Smith 17-3-38-2, Baer 34-11-63-2, Thompson 24-8-50-4, Miller 14-6-24-1.
•  Cumberland 2nd innings

G Platten c Blake b Miles 23

J Miles b Brown 40

Ikram Ullah not out 107

G J Pratt c Ward b Brown 42

J A Smith c Lambert b Brown 2

C Thompson run out 1

M Brown c Rogers b Brown 3

G N Dawson run out 17

Extras 20

Total (7 wkts, 49 overs) 255

Fall: 1-46, 2-107, 3-212, 4-219, 5-230, 6-230, 7-255.

Bowling: Miles 14-0-63-1, Eccles 4-0-26-0, Walker 15-0-69-0, Brown 15-3-74-4, Rogers 1-0-7-0.

Eastern Division
Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts
Bedfordshire  2 1 0 0 1 0 31
Cumberland  2 0 0 0 2 0 22
Norfolk  2 0 0 0 2 0 21
Staffs  2 0 1 0 1 0 17
Lincolnshire  1 0 0 0 1 0 12
Northumb  1 0 0 0 1 0 12
Bucks  1 0 0 0 1 0 10
Herts  1 0 0 0 1 0 10
Suffolk  1 0 0 0 1 0 10
Cambs  1 0 0 0 1 0 9

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