It's a game Greerton skipper Craig Budd says was worthy of a final, although his side will now have to refocus and make sure they don't blow a rare shot at the title decider after stunning top qualifiers Mount Maunganui in the Williams Cup semifinal on Saturday.
Greerton, who just sneaked into the fourth qualifying spot, doused the reigning champions' title hopes at Blake Park by eight runs in a game that went into the final over.
Greerton last won the Williams Cup 27 years ago, with conjecture over the weekend over whether they'd even come close since, but Budd said they aren't finished yet. Greerton will fight out the final on Saturday against Cadets after the perennial champions proved too strong for Tauranga Boys' College at Tauranga Domain.
"Almost 30 years is too long and although [Saturday] was a great effort, we're pretty keen to make sure just making the final isn't reward enough," Budd said.
After winning the toss Budd chose to bat first on a pitch he said was slightly wet, with the ball going through the top. Even Greerton doesn't know which team - good or bad - is going to turn up. On Saturday it was the good one, with Greerton's top order weathering the pace storm, led by a masterful 81 from Ben Williams after the Bay of Plenty assistant coach made himself available.
Shane Wineti (31no) and Richie Earl (23no) got runs down the order as Greerton reached 194-5 in 50 overs, a score Budd always felt confident would be competitive.
Mount Maunganui were in early trouble, losing their top order relatively cheaply, before skipper Daniel Hill gutsed it out, almost carrying his side to victory with an unbeaten 62. At 186-9 heading into the final over Budd said keeping Hill away from the strike was key. "Hilly was the only one who was going to get those eight runs and I had no hesitation asking Brett [Hampton] to bowl the last over. You've got to back your best bowler in a situation like that."
In the end it was a runout, one of four in the innings, that sealed it as the final Mount pair tried to turn a single into two runs, sending Greerton into the final.
They'll fancy their chances against a Cadets side they had on the ropes in the final weekend of round-robin, although the Domain-based side rebounded on Saturday with a clinical win over Tauranga Boys when defending 214. Boys' College took the early initiative, with Cadets in trouble at 55-3 before Jono Boult (62) and Matthew Drake (67) rescued the innings with a solid 122-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Tauranga Boys' bowlers then struck back to take the last four wickets for not many but Boult said any total north of 180 was always going to be a winning one. "I was more than happy with 214 - that was enough runs easy. It was a difficult pitch to bat on and 180 was par, 200 was decent and anything more than that was awesome. We've tended to struggle in the middle order a bit lately so to put on that many with Drakey was solid."
Boys' College lost Elliot Timoti in the third over with the score at six and never recovered, with wickets falling at regular intervals before player/coach Mark Orchard and Alex Oakley combined for a fifth wicket stand of 51.
But Oakley was recklessly runout and the chase limped to an inevitable conclusion, with national under-19 seamer Sean Davey taking 3-33 at the top and Boult wrapping up the tail, taking the last four wickets.
Cadets are chasing their 10th Williams Cup crown in 20 years, although it's been a while between one-day titles.
"Last year we should have been in the final [Cadets controversially missed out after their semifinal with Mount ended in a tie] but weren't because of the fiasco so all the boys are pretty keen to set that right this year."