Barrovians Sam Dutton and Toby Mowat were part of the Cumberland team who heartbreakingly lost their Unicorns Trophy final to Berkshire by just one run.

A match which ebbed and flowed at Wormsley on Wednesday was decided by a nerveless final over from Berkshire seamer Tom Nugent.

Cumberland needed five runs to level the scores and win by losing fewer wickets, but Adam Syddall managed only two off the first five deliveries.

With three needed off the last ball, Syddall drove Nugent to long-on, but could manage only two, sparking Berkshire celebrations as they won their sixth trophy in four seasons.

Bowling first, Cumberland regularly took wickets to restrict Berkshire to 144 all out in 46.4 overs.

Opener Jack Davies and Chris Peploe joint top-scored for Berkshire with 31, while Toby Bulcock ended with figures of 3-25.

Former Furness batsman Dutton, who is now with Blackpool, and Barrow’s Mowat opened Cumberland’s reply, but neither were able to make much of an impression.

Dutton was caught behind off the very first ball, as he edged Luke Beaven to Berkshire wicketkeeper Davies and the same bowler had Mowat trapped lbw for seven.

Cumberland then collapsed to 65-7, with Carlisle’s Michael Slack the only member of the top order to provide any resistance, as he was out for 26.

But the Cumbrians’ tail wagged, with Ben Howarth adding 18 before the last-wicket pairing of Bulcock and Syddall adding 22 between them to take the match right down to the wire.

Bulcock finished unbeaten on 29 to top-score for Cumberland, while Syddall was ten not out, but it was not quite enough.

Euan Woods was the pick of the Berkshire bowlers as he took 3-23 while Beaven chipped in with 3-31 in what turned out to be the tensest of contests.

Defeat was hard on Cumberland, whose captain Gary Pratt said: “They were in a similar position to us. They had a partnership together towards the end and they probably thought they’d 150 to 160, so they were short of that.

“I felt confident we would get that. It did start to spin a bit more, but we just played six poor shots and got three good balls.”

It was the first time Cumberland have made the final in seven years.

Pratt, who famously ran-out Ricky Ponting in the 2005 Ashes, added: “We have probably over-achieved in this competition and to run a side that has dominated Minor Counties cricket in recent years is a good effort.”