Skipper Choi Jackson had no hesitation on winning the toss in putting Red Star into bat on a greenish pitch and they capitulated to be all out for just 123, with only two batsmen, Harry Clinton-Baker and Peter Sigvertsen, making it into the 20s. The innings lasted only 31 overs and Lansdowne relied heavily on medium pacers Calvin Ball (5-46), Jock Cameron (2-39) and Chris Jefferies (2-23) to do the damage.
At 63-4 it could hardly be said Lansdowne's first innings got away to a flying start either, but things changed for the better when veteran Jefferies came to the wicket and quickly took to the Red Star bowling. He was last out with his score on 126 (132 balls, 23 4s and one 6) and Lansdowne's on a healthy 256.
Bowling for Red Star, the ever-reliable Sigvertsen finished with 3-43.
To have any chance of making up the lost ground and pushing for an outright win, Red Star badly needed their top order to fire in their second innings and they came to the party.
Openers Clinton-Baker (53 from 82 balls and eight 4s) and Troy Burling (72 from 111 balls and nine 4s and one 6) put on 127 runs for the first wicket, just six runs short of wiping off the first innings deficit, and skipper Joe Hull was unbeaten on 63 when the innings was declared closed at 296-9. He faced 205 balls and struck eight 4s. Spinner Henry Cameron was the pick of the Lansdowne bowlers, finishing with 3-46 from 16 overs.
The challenge now for Lansdowne in their second innings was to either score the 164 runs required for the outright win or protect their first innings lead and while they eventually managed the latter there was plenty of excitement in the 53 overs they faced before stumps were drawn.
At 42-4, and with medium pacer Jarred Watt leading the Red Star charge, they looked in big trouble but helped hugely by patient knocks from Andrew Rogers (32) and Alex Treseder (39 from 80 balls) they managed to hang on, play ending with them teetering on 121-8. Watt's 7-30 from 21 overs was just reward for some persistently accurate bowling.
Captain Jackson was delighted with Lansdowne's success but conceded there were some nervous times as Red Star mounted their comeback.
"It was pretty much on a knife edge at the end, you have to give Red Star credit, they certainly didn't lie down," he said. "Maybe we didn't help ourselves by being a bit too defensive but we held on, and that's what counts."
Jackson agreed the Jefferies century on the first day was clearly a huge factor in his team's win and says it provided a good lesson for the many young players involved in the final.
"He [Jefferies] showed how vital it is to back yourself even when things aren't going as well as you might like," he said.
Short scoreboard: Red Star 123 (Clinton-Baker 20, Burling 4, Jarvis 1, Hull 15, Wenden 5, Karaitiana 9, Wells 3, Watt 19, Sigvertsen 22 not out, McCluskey 7, Wilson 14, extras 4; J. Cameron 9-1-39-2, Ball 14-1-46-5, Jefferies 6-1-23-2, Burr 1.1-0-8-1, Barrett 1-0-4-0) and 296-9 dec (Clinton-Baker 52, Burling 72, Jarvis 1, Hull 63 not out, Wenden 4, Karaitiana 22, Watt 13, Wells 9, Sigvertsen 19, McCluskey 1, Wilson 7 not out, extras 32; Ball 13-2-57-0, J. Cameron 6-0-30-0, Jefferies 2-0-18-0, Barrett 13-1-47-1, H. Cameron 16-2-46-3, A. Treseder 8-1-26-1, Burr 9-1-27-2, Jackson 4-0-20-1) lost to Lansdowne 256 (Adamson 31, S. Treseder 1, Rogers 2, H. Cameron 17, A. Treseder 10, Jefferies 126, Jackson 16, Ball 9, Barrett 15, Burr 3, J. Cameron 2 not out, extras 24; Watt 19-6-53-2, McCluskey 11-7-34-0, Karaitiana 13-2-30-2, Sigvertsen 12-4-43-3, Wilson 7-2-29-0, Wells 8-1-28-2, Jarvis 4-0-17-1) and 121-8 (Adamson 0, S. Treseder 5, Rogers 32, H. Cameron 0, A. Treseder 39, Jefferies 6, Ball 12 not out, Barrett 0, Burr 5 not out, extras 17; Watt 21-8-30-7, McCluskey 6-1-11-0, Karaitiana 5-0-20-0, Sigvertsen 8-4-17-0, Wilson 4-0-13-0, Wells 3-1-13-0, Jarvis 4-4-3-1, Clinton-Baker 2-1-2-0) on the first innings.
Lansdowne and Red Star will also feature in the semifinals in the limited-overs competition, the Umpire's Cup, this coming Saturday. Lansdowne will play Wairarapa College at Wairarapa College and Red Star will meet Kuranui Old Boys at Greytown. The final will be played at Queen Elizabeth Park oval on Sunday.
