CHESHIRE won the Minor Counties Championship Western Division for the first time in four years after a dramatic finish to their three-day clash with Wales at Chester Boughton Hall.
Andy Hall's team dismissed Wales for 207 in their second innings thanks to five wickets each for Nathan Dumelow (5-87) and Chris Schofield (5-88), leaving the home side a victory target of 240 with 32 runs having been added on from the visitors' first innings lead.
Cheshire fell two runs short of the victory line after an exciting finish, but arch-rivals Berkshire only managed a draw at home to Herefordshire, and the title was won.
Cheshire will meet Suffolk for the chance to be crowned the outright Championship winners in Ipswich between September 11 and 13.
Delighted skipper Hall said: 'It's a fantastic achievement. I'm so happy for all the players. Although we just missed out on beating Wales we've had such a good season, we deserved to win the title.
'Everyone is really looking forward to playing Suffolk in the final.
'We'll go into that match with plenty of confidence because we've not lost this season in the league and have nothing to fear.'
