Bailey's Bay 214-7 Western Stars 193 Bailey's Bay picked up their first Champion of Champions title since 1986 -- and denied defending titlists Western Stars a record third straight win in the process -- as a huge crowd at White Hill Field yesterday saw this match produce an intriguing finish.

Captain Arnold Manders nearly carried the two-time defending champions to a most dramatic victory when he swung a big bat late in the match to take his team to within 22 runs of their target. But with two more overs remaining Manders holed out to Glenn Smith on the mid-wicket boundary on the last ball of the 48th over, bowled by Clarkie Trott.

Everyone at the ground appeared to focus on Smith as he got under the ball, bent his knees and took a comfortable catch under his chin to kill off Stars' last hope of producing one of the most thrilling fightbacks in the history of this competition.

Stars looked dead and buried when four wickets went down for 22 runs as the score slumped from 125-4 to 147-8. Included among the victims was Jeff Richardson, the man who Bay feared most along with Albert Steede who departed earlier, lbw to Noel Gibbons for 48.

But Bay were soon to learn that Manders had lost little of his brutality as a batsman, becoming more and more aggressive as partners departed at the other end. And even when just he and last-man Gary Brangman remained -- with a target of 44 in eight overs facing them -- there was still the fear that victory could be achieved as long as Manders was able to take much of the strike.

"The game was never out of our reach,'' insisted Manders afterwards.

"Most of the guys in our team can bat. If Jeff had stayed a little longer it would have helped us. "We had 18 balls to make 23 runs -- the only thing was that it was the last wicket.'' Stars were actually ahead of Bay on scoring rate later in the game after Dennis Pilgrim's lone over cost him 13 runs to Cleon Scotland who hit him for three fours to bring up the 100 in the 25th over. However, Pilgrim made amends by taking a smart catch to dismiss Richardson at cover, leaving Manders to stand as the last hope for Stars.

Both teams posted their 100 in the 25th over, while with 15 overs remaining Bay had 132 on the board and Stars 131. Going into the last 10 overs, when Bay scored 64 runs, Stars still needed 68 to win but with fewer wickets remaining.

Manders kept the crowd entertained, and Bay very nervous, with some delightful shots around the wicket which brought him three sixes and four fours before he was last out for 55, the only player to pass 50 in the match.

"Arnold did give me some concerns and I was a bit worried about the fact that he could stick in to the end due to the fact that he's been playing this game for a long time,'' said Bay captain Ricky Hill.

Earlier Albert Steede scored 48 with four fours and his departure on 107 in the 36th over was just the wicket Bay needed as wickets fell regularly after that.

Other contributions for Stars included 24 by Andre Manders, who put on 55 with Steede for the second wicket, and 23 from Scotland whose dismissal brought some controversy.

He was bowled by Charlie Marshall and started to walk but umpire Randy Butler ruled that the bails had been dislodged by wicketkeeper Roger Trott.

Butler initially refused to budge despite pleas from several Bay players to consult square leg umpire George Francis. Eventually he did and Francis indicated that the dismissal was fair.

Clarkie Trott claimed three for 31 to lead the Bay bowling while Corey Hill and Marshall both claimed two wickets.

After being sent in, Bay were led in the batting department by a mature knock from veteran Noel Gibbons who hit 47 not out on his way to the MVP prize.

Devrae Hollis (31) and Roger Trott (28) put on 56 for the first wicket before number three bat Glenn Smith stroked 31 and Charlie Marshall 26.

Allan Brangman was the best Stars bowler with three for 52 while Hasan Durham took two for 29.

On Sunday, Stars beat Willow Cuts by six wickets in the semi-final, thanks to an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 115 between Steede and Richardson who scored 79 and 64. Dexter Basden was the top scorer for Willow Cuts with 67 while Hasan Durham took four for 44 and Allan Brangman three for 40.