With four teams in Pool B level on points heading into Saturday, the Devils first needed to secure a victory, then wait for other results to see if they would be playing sudden-death cricket. 

Wests were able to take care of the first aspect of that equation, claiming a four-wicket victory over Port Kembla. The heavens then lent a hand, a thunderstorm causing Keira and Dapto’s match to be abandoned. 

The storm saw both the Lions and Canaries finals hopes washed away, but delivered Wests a semi-final date with Wollongong. 

Wests ultimately finished second in the pool, with University taking out the pool with a Duckworth-Lewis victory over Northern Districts. 

The defeat eliminated Northern Districts from finals contention, with Wollongong securing first place in Pool A with a win over second-placed Helensburgh. 

With a semi-finals berth secured, Devils captain Tylar Edwards said his team can challenge their more fancied rivals in the coming weeks. 

“We’re really happy, we set ourselves up to win yesterday and get into finals,” Edwards said. “We executed really well, we’re really happy with how we played, now we’re off to finals, which hasn’t happened in a while for the club.

“There are areas we need to work on and the boys know that, if we are to push for the title. Wollongong are a very strong team, but we’ll take some confidence from our win over them earlier in the season in the one-day competition.”

Batting first, Port Kembla reached 0-127. Edwards, however, was determined to ensure there would be no upset, opening the batting with a quickfire 51 off just 31 balls. 

A middle-order stumble gave Port Kembla a glimmer of hope, but David Potts was able to ensure Wests reached their target in the 19th over. 

“We set it up in the first 10 overs of the run chase, getting to around 80. We did lose a few wickets in clumps, which was a bit nerve-wracking. But the boys in the middle order finished it off well from a good start.”

Elsewhere, Uni’s bowlers restricted the Butchers to 7-125. In reply, Toby Dodds steered the team to 5-94 off 14 overs before the rain hit, with Uni winning on Duckworth-Lewis.

Wollongong enjoyed a finals tune-up by claiming a five-wicket win over the Tigers. After restricting Helensburgh to 4-108, Duncan Maddinson scored an attacking 52* to help his team cruise to victory.

Lastly, Balgownie claimed a Duckworth-Lewis victory over Corrimal.