A TENSE last-over finish ended with Cumberland losing by one run to Herefordshire in their MCCA Trophy match at Workington on Monday.

Invited to bat by Cumberland skipper Marcus Sharp, Herefordshire faced a tricky spell of seam bowling before R. Hall proved to be their mainstay with a dogged 93, including 13 fours, from 176 balls.

Support came from H. Langford with a well-constructed 50 as the Cumberland bowlers made their opponents work hard for runs and exemplary ground fielding restricted them to 206-5 on an excellent wicket.

Cumberland's Matthew Gorley finished 2-19 and Chris Hooker 1-27.

Cumberland's innings began badly with the loss of Carl Hey in the opening over and Darren Clark followed for 15 after playing some good shots and starting to look comfortable.

This brought Gary Pratt to the middle and the ex-Durham CCC player responded to the challenging situation by dropping anchor and treating each ball on its merits.

Wickets started to fall at regular intervals with Procter (18) and Smith (18) both getting starts but unable to fashion a big score.

Hooker, D'Leny and Gorley then followed cheaply to leave Cumberland at a precarious 99-7, although there were still plenty of overs remaining.

Skipper Sharp and Pratt remained positive to share a stand of 50 before both fell in close succession, Pratt going for an impressive 59, but with Cumberland apparently in dire staits at 166-9.

A fantastic last-wicket stand followed between Chris Miller and David Rooney, who mixed aggressive drives with quick singles. Amazingly, it saw Cumberland reach the final over needing three runs to win. Rooney took a quick single from the second ball, leaving four balls to score two.

Eighteen-year-old Miller missed a pitched-up ball on middle stump and was given out lbw and Herefordshire snatched a one-run victory.

Miller had made 29 from 21 balls and Rooney finished on 14 not out.

"It was an agonising way to lose, but the rearguard effort by the Cumberland tail-end ensured a gripping finish and showed an improved team spirit," said Steve Sharp, Cumberland's Chairman of Cricket.

"All in all it was an excellent game of cricket with a great deal of effort and preparation by the Workington club, who should be pleased by the way they hosted it. "