In the season decider at the weekend at Katandra against Nagambie, another side chasing its first flag in this competition, Waaia was toasting opening bowler Jesse Trower and tailend batters Kaleb Gilmour and Will Trower for setting up the win.
State country representative Trower produced an enduring fast bowling display for the ages, dismantling the Nagambie line-up for just 97 after it had won the toss and elected to bat.
Trower ploughed through the Nagambie batters in an inspired spell in which he took 5-27 in a marathon 31.4 over stint which included a staggering 15 maidens.
Trower was well supported by Liam Evans whose 25 overs cost only 48 runs and claimed three vital wickets.
Nagambie’s batters failed to handle the heat applied by Trower and Evans with only Tom Barnes, batting at number 10 and making a fighting, unbeaten 37 and Luke Nolan at first drop contributing 22, making more than half their team’s total of 97.
But Waaia’s run chase was a similar story to Nagambie’s.
It had collapsed to 9-81 and was staring down a first innings deficit when its last two batters Kaleb Gilmour and Will Trower put on what proved to a premiership winning last wicket partnership of 34 to engineer a 16-run first innings lead in a tense, cringing, almost unbearable atmosphere.
Then Mitch Winter-Irving got the game back on level terms with a six-wicket haul for Nagambie in the tense Waaia run chase.
Nagambie pushed on for an outright win on Sunday and batted a second time before declaring at 8-108.
This left Waaia with the option in its second innings of batting out time or getting the 91 runs to claim the outright win - and the flag.
This was another drama filled batting journey with Waaia plunging to 7-70 and 8-90, which levelled the contest, at one stage.
Jesse Trower then picked off the one run needed for Waaia to scrape home with two wickets and 5.3 overs to spare after Liam Evans had left his mark with the bat for Waaia with a timely second innings knock of 40.
Mark Nolan with four wickets and Winter-Irving with three hauled Nagambie back from the brink with deadly bowling spells for the second time in the game but it wasn’t quite enough to railroad Waaia’s premiership celebrations.
X In the other Cricket Shepparton season deciders premiers were Northerners (B-grade), Karramomus (C-grade), Northerners (D-grade) and Nagambie (E-grade).
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