Edinburgh Castle Rockers are the winners of the inaugural EPTL and none of the other five franchises can have any complaints.

The Scottish-based side, likely to be one of the hosts when they defend their title in Season Two, led the league phase throughout, guaranteeing them direct entry into Sunday’s final and despite not playing for three days,  they turned up and beat Belfast Wolves, the winners of the Eliminator on Saturday, by seven wickets with eight balls to spare.

The Rockers who won every completed game in Voorburg actually lost three games in Malahide, including against the Wolves,  but they won the big one with Andries Gous taking them to victory with an outstanding 90 not out from 61 balls.

The South African came to the middle at the end of the third over after Ross Adair had been dismissed by his younger brother Mark, skying a catch which Lorcan Tucker held comfortably.

Gous then proceeded to score all but 35 of the remaining runs, hitting eight fours and four sixes, as Edinburgh, who won the toss, eased to their victory target of 151.

After 15 overs, the game looked  to be still in the balance with the Castle Rockers  needing 39 for victory but 11 came off Chris Jordan’s first over, another 11 came  off the next, with Brandon McMullan hitting two boundaries, and although Gavin Hoey held a smart return catch to dismiss the Scotsman in the 18th over, Gous hurried the game to its conclusion by hitting Glenn Maxwell for a six and a four off successive balls.

The crowd finally turned up for the last day with around 1500 in stands with Wolves captain Maxwell getting the loudest cheers every time his name was mentioned. That was until Jordan – who didn’t get a chance to bat – was brought onto to bowl. Unfortunately the cheers didn’t inspire the English bowler and his overproved to be the beginning of the end for the Wolves, who had shocked Amsterdam Flames in the Eliminator.

Much like the Edinburgh reply, there was one dominant batter in the Wolves innings with Tim Tector scoring 84 of his side’s 150 for five. He actually batted through the innings, bowled by Tom Curran’s final ball. He faced 62 balls and hit nine fours and two sixes.

He lost Paul Stirling at the end of  the third over but unlike his international opening partner Ross Adair, who scored 23 off  14 balls, with two fours and two sixes – the first satisfyingly off his brother – Stirling could score only eight off 10 balls (one four) before he was caught at cover off Trent Boult.

Tector put on 63 for the second wicket with Devon Conway who scored 29 off 24 balls but the middle-order charge by Maxwell and Lorcan Tucker failed to materialise with Mark Watt and Boult dismissing both batters in the space of 11 balls - Tucker to a superb catch by JJ Smuts - for a combined total of just nine runs.

The Wolves did manage 45 from the last five overs, but at halfway it was Edinburgh who were the favourites and they confirmed it in some style.