Waimate prepared for their senior one-day cricket final against Celtic this weekend with a nervous two-wicket win over Timaru at Ashbury Park 4 on Saturday.
With the two finalists already confirmed before the final round of matches on Saturday, several teams were playing for pride.
A nine-man Temuka side ended Star’s miserable season with a 28-run victory over the home team at Mountainview High School, while Celtic beat Roncalli by five wickets at the Celtic Sports Grounds.
Waimate appeared to be cruising to their target of 138 in a match reduced to 40 overs due to a damp pitch caused by sprinklers operating for several hours the day before.
Waimate were 77 without loss in the 20th over before losing eight wickets for 57 runs as Timaru charged back into the game on a pitch where there was little bounce and no real pace.
Opener Nathan Sew Hoy scored a match-high 42 for Waimate, but when he departed, the spin of stand-in Timaru captain Zane Sanders (three for 25) and medium pace of Brendan Ridden (three for 10) used the lack of bounce in the wicket to trap the unsuspecting Waimate batsmen who could not adjust.
Alan Reid made a handy middle-order contribution of 15, but appeared to suffer a hip injury while running between the wickets which will be a concern for captain Jason Sew Hoy ahead of the final.
Gerald Piddock was the pick of the Timaru batsmen.
The opener assessed the pitch the best and played off the front-foot wherever possible before he perished yet again this season while in the 30s, this time making 39, while Abhisheck Baadkar made a quickfire 24 at No10 to give his team a respectable target for Waimate to chase down, which they did with 41 balls to spare.
A horrid season for Star came to and end when they were dismissed for 90, chasing Temuka’s 118.
Temuka paceman Nathan McNicol proved too hot to handle for Star as he took seven for 26, which cancelled out Star’s Craig Hinton who took four for 20.
Even with the help of 39 extras from an erratic Temuka, Star still fell well short.
Star captain Phil McGregor, who top-scored with 21, said player recruitment and a “batting boot-camp” were the top priorities for his team over the off-season.
He said it was also likely that Saturday was the last club match for former South Canterbury captain Todd Elliotte.
Temuka player Hayden Broker said his team had some promising players, but like many clubs, they were on the lookout for another couple of batsmen for next season.
Celtic overcame a plucky Roncalli College thanks largely to five for 16 from spinner Sam Carlaw.
Roncalli posted 129 all out on the back of former Celtic player Ryan de Joux smashing 37 along with Tom Pavletich 20 and Henry Race 19.
It was no match for Celtic’s experienced top order, with Jeremy Liddy 38 not out anchoring the innings.
Along with starts from Craig Davies (35) and Mark Tutton 24, Celtic chased down the target with nine overs remaining.
Roncalli’s Ben Watson ended an impressive season with three for 29 in a losing cause.
The final will be held at Aorangi Oval.