It seems just about everyone had something to play for in premier men's club cricket yesterday.
You could be forgiven for thinking it was a premature bash before the All Blacks etch their name on the William Webb Ellis Trophy tomorrow in the Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park, Auckland.
But, touch wood, the ABs won't suffer the same fate as the men in white in the three English one-dayers (60-over) yesterday at Nelson Park, Napier.
Oh how the mighty fell - defending champions Complete Flooring Napier Technical Old Boys lost by three wickets in a nail-biter that went down to the wire against Taradale CC and Heretaunga Building Society Cornwall succumbed by the same margin to Craft and Hern Sports Havelock North on the adjacent pitch after their match was moved from a soggy Cornwall Park wicket.
In the third match, Napier Old Boys' Marist (NOBM) put Ruahine Motors Central Hawke's Bay (CHB) to the sword with an emphatic 87-run victory on a TGIF (thank god, it's Friday) note because of the Labour Day weekend, with a glorious Friday tagged on as the HB Anniversary Day.
"Look I'll sacrifice our victory today if the All Blacks bring it [World Cup] home on Sunday," a jubilant Havelock North captain Jared Priest said last night.
The Mike Shrimpton-coached Cornwall, who it seems will also struggle to win any prizes for returning calls this summer, were skittled for a paltry 107 in 43 overs after Priest won the toss and put them in.
No 4 Carl Cachopa top scored with 29 runs and No 6 Jono Hall added 23 as the Hastings club lost four wickets for no runs in an innings that included six players failing to get to double figures as well as two ducks.
Priest claimed a five-wicket bag (5-20) while Bay rep Kurt Richards took 4-34 before tomorrow's opening round Chapple Cup match against Wairarapa at Ongaonga Domain.
The villagers didn't have it all their way though, stuttering before making 187-7 in 40 overs thanks to ex-Bay rep Zane Hinton's 38 at No 4, opener Henry Hunter's 21 and a dogged effort from wicketkeeper/No 7 Daniel Priest for a cameo 17 runs.
"My brother again made some brutal stumpings and then came out when we needed 20 runs to win and looking unsteady. He batted well, especially against Tarun Nethula," Jared Priest said after CD spinner Nethula nailed 4-19 and fellow Stag Carl Cachopa claimed 2-24.
The Tech v Dale game had a complex web of factors riding on the game.
Tech coach Dale Smidt was celebrating his 50th birthday so son Stevie Smidt delivered with 73 runs at No 5 and a frugal wicket-less 12 overs, including five maidens, for 21 runs that should impress CD coach Alan Hunt.
The Liam Rukuwai-captained Tech were all out for 190 in 58 overs with No 4 Alex McGarva adding 26 to the total.
Taradale High School seventh former Stan Mair took 3-41 with his right-arm fast deliveries and skipper Luke Wright had 2-40 while CD allrounder Kieran Noema-Barnett was miserly from his 14 overs, including four maidens, offering only 20 runs for a wicket.
The Hong Kong Sixes-bound international then scored 56 runs at No 4 with No 5 James De Terte adding 41 to eclipse Tech's total by one for the loss of seven wickets in the last and 60th over.
Tech wicketkeeper JK Whyte also had a lot to play for with his girlfriend and Tech women's cricketer, Marjorie Kirby, giving birth to a baby boy in the morning.
Explained Wright with a guilt-ridden edge to his voice: "So JK's father, Del Whyte, who was the umpire at the crease, became a grandfather and Dale was marking his 50th.
"So there was a lot going on if you can imagine."
However, someone forgot to tell the Taradale boys that as Jurgen "The Animal" Anderson (2-34), Rukuwai (3-39) and "Gym Junkie" Smidt couldn't make it a fairytale ending.
Rukuwai said his troops had arrived at the park in the morning also with the intention of winning in honour of opening batsman George Diack's recall to the Bay senior rep team for the Chapple Cup game tomorrow.
"We were hoping for Georgie Pie to have a good day but it didn't happen for us," he said after Diack fell victim to a Mair delivery.
A jovial Wright paid tribute to a strapping Mair, claiming the seamer was less erratic in his deliveries since "hooking up with a girlfriend" this summer.
Noema-Barnett, De Terte and left-hander Callum Hewitson (35 runs), he said, also performed with aplomb to overhaul the total.
The game was played with a competitive edge between two Napier sides that got on well with each other.
"I can't repeat what was said out there between the players during the game but it was an outstanding game to be involved with," Wright concluded.
NOBM player/stand-in coach Mathew Sinclair laughed when asked if his troops had an extra incentive to play or if the TGIF factor had helped their cause for an emphatic victory.
What the former international could say for sure was that NOBM had gone into the match as favourites, racking up 242 runs with two balls to spare before losing their last wicket.
The Stag, batting at No 5, top scored with 92 runs while No 4 Sherwin Tillay was solid with 88 runs.
CHB medium pacer Digby Phillips claimed a five-wicket bag for 61 runs, winning plaudits from Sinclair.
"That Phillips bloke impressed me but I think we played some loose shots too," Sinclair lamented, adding they still needed to work on their batting and their bowling wasn't the best.
"Sherwin was great but it's not twenty20 so we need to learn to stay on the crease."
CHB coach Mike Lewis was disappointed no one stayed with CD wicketkeeper/No 4 Kruger van Wyk who scored 103 from 128 balls, including 15 fours.
"We're having a lot of problems with our batting so unless we fix them we're not going to win any games," Lewis said after CHB were skittled for 155 in 49 overs.
He said Phillips got five wickets because the ball was swinging on last weekend's wicket which was "doing a little bit".
Lewis rued three dropped catches, including "Sinclair on two".
NOBM opening bowler Henry Peters continued his wicket ways from last weekend against the Tech with 4-32. Matthew Jones claimed 2-29 but a modest Sinclair stole the thunder with two wickets from his nine overs, including five maidens, and conceding just six runs in stifling the visitors.
Despite the CD men's record runs scorer's misgivings, it is encouraging to see NOBM on the road to rebuilding their reputation amid an exodus of players.