The Hills 245/6 in 50 overs beat Leinster 161/10 in 48.4 overs

The Hills win by 84 runs

The final day of the season saw bright skies and sunny weather. Both teams needed something from the match, The Hills to win the league, Leinster to avoid relegation. Luke Clinton of The Hills won the toss and elected to bat.

Jeremy Bray and Paddy Byrne opened the batting, and set about building an impossible target to chase. Paddy went with the score on 20, caught behind off Vermaak, but at this stage it was obvious that Jeremy was planning to be there a while. Barry Archer arrived and quickly caught up with Jeremy in the scoring stakes, they put on 105 before Archer went with 51 to his name.

Mike Baumgart was the next in, and all the while Jeremy was playing his shots and taking the singles. Mike also scored quickly reaching 53, and Jeremy was well caught by Craig Mallon having made 116 (13x4, 2x6). A flurry of wickets in the last three overs made things slightly more respectable than Leinster deserved. Byron bowled well for 2/40 off his ten, and likewise Will Lennon for 0/30 off 10 straight. Star of the show, even allowing for the late wickets was George Dockrell with 4/34 off 9. Messrs Scholtz, Todd, Jones and Miley won't have been looking to check their figures.

Leinster needed only a solitary bonus point to avoid relegation, and they gave us a glimpse of the dreaded days of draw cricket in never setting their sights higher than the 146 they needed. Max Sorenson started brightly with good pace and aggression, too good in fact as he pulled a side muscle in his third over and wasn't seen again.

Jason Molins was feeling poorly so Byron Vermaak had opened with Craig Mallon, and it was hard to know who to blame when Mallon was run out with the score on 25, neither of them had called! Joe Clinton rolled back the years to replace Max and took 2/25 off 6 overs needed before the introduction of the spinners. Albert van der Merwe used the bounce and excessive turn available to keep the batsmen guessing. His 4/12 off 10 was the clincher in the result of the game, but Leinster were still within a sniff of their bonus point.

Matt Dwyer had tried to tie down the other end, but he also had to retire from the attack after only two overs, a shoulder strain the cause this time. This brought Mark into the attack and he tied the batsmen down with 0/39 off his ten. It was the arrival of Will Lennon (44*) that ensured the bonus point that Leinster needed. His combination of wild hoicks and steady defence kept the board moving as others fell around him. In the end there it was a tame finish with both Leinster and The Hills happy with their lot. Luke finished with 0/22 off 10, and Mike Baumgart took 2/22 off his 6 overs.

Survival for Leinster and a first league title for The Hills since 1989. The best team always wins the league.