Berkshire's win against Essex is not enough to take title.

Berkshire 194 for 5 (D.Tooze 76; N.Green 3-35) defeated Essex 112 for 6 (P.Wakefield 76*, A.Brown 2-19, G.Smith 2-17)

Berkshire won the toss and elected to bat in perfect conditions. Requiring a heavy victory, their captain David Tooze and Ian Harvey started briskly, putting on 112 for the first wicket before the latter was stumped for 40. Tooze looked set to launch a late attack on the Essex attack before a faint edge behind saw the end of his fine innings of 70 off only 64 balls. It was a big dent to Berkshire’s hopes of lifting the tournament trophy. Trevor Clacey (20), Colin Ainger (14) and Gerry Smith (16) contributed valuable runs as they reached the impressive score of 194 for 5 off 30 overs. For Essex, Andy Brown and Gerry Smith captured 2 wickets apiece. Essex’s run chase started poorly as they lost their top batsman Sanjeev Sood without score. They staggered to 53 for 4 and Berkshire had renewed hope of restricting them to the low score required. Paul Wakefield had other ideas and when the overs were completed he remained unbeaten on 76 not out from Essex’s reply of 112 for 6. Berkshire walked off the ground with the head held high, satisfied with victory but knowing they had missed a great chance of boosting their net run rate above that of Warwickshire who were playing later in the day against Yorkshire Ridings.