At the resumption of play, Rochester had Nondies on the ropes at 3-37, with the prime directive of the home side to avoid getting out-righted by stacking on the runs.
Of course, as with the majority of its season, that didn’t quite go the way Nondies wanted.
In just the second over of the day, Xavier Wishart (7) went fishing off a delivery by Sean Williams and was caught behind by the safe hands of Kuldeep Lal.
Thankfully, the arrival of Sam O’Shea brought with it one of the heftier partnerships Nondies offered for the match between him and Broden Wishart.
Despite O’Shea only lasting 18 balls before he was caught by Dylan Cuttriss, he managed to contribute a quick-fire 23 which included five boundaries.
New batter Will O’Shea only lasted four balls longer than his brother while contributing less, adding just 13 to the total before he was beaten all ends up by Myles Wade.
Wade was deadly with ball in hand, taking the next wicket of Kyeran Ellery (4) when he hung on to a shot hit straight back at him in the 38th over.
The unbeaten Broden Wishart continued to push on as he began to run out of partners, with ninth man Aiden Konopka providing the last line of defence alongside him.
The pair was able to combine late in Nondies’ innings to push the side past 100.
Yet, Wade couldn’t stay out of the game forever, this time his catching brought about the wicket of Konopka (19) off Jake Wright.
After Konopka’s dismissal, it was only a matter of time before Nondies was bowled out again, with tail-enders Anantveer Sachdeva (6) and Tim Johnson (0) making minimal contributions.
Broden Wishart (29 not out) was all out of partners and time, the brave number five left stranded as the hosts were sent back in to the field after tallying 134.
Rochester made quick work of chasing down Nondies’ total, along the way losing only one wicket, Vibhor Yadav for a duck.
Oliver Williams (19 not out) and Lal (38 not out) combined to get the job done in just a tick over 12 hours.
A quick finish meant Rochester was able to enjoy the fruits of its labour, collecting second innings points and a dominant finish to a minor premiership-winning season.
It marks a significant turnaround from its 2023-24 campaign in which it missed finals, placing fifth with an 8-5 win-loss record.
The side will now enjoy a home semi-final, in which it will play a battle-hardened Kyabram Fire Brigade side which surged late to scrape into the finals.
The Flames successfully defended their 175-run total against Tongala at the weekend, bowling the Blues out for a meagre 108 as Rob Salter (5-34) was in the mood with ball in hand.
In other upcoming semi final, Echuca, which bowled Bamawm Locking United out 148 runs shy of its target, will meet Moama despite the Mowers losing by five wickets to Echuca South in the final round.
