Playing on the synthetic Stait Oval wicket, the Pius total of 194 looked very attainable but Stannies' top order simply didn't hang around long enough to do any damage.

The hosts were stopped on 156 in the 45^th over in a big upset result.

Pius' opening batsmen Adam Greenwood (36) and Joe Colgan (44) gave the visitors an optimal start, with the latter producing 30 of his runs through boundaries.

Stannies picked up three wickets for just one run, courtesy of a sublime Cooper Brien (5-18) bowling performance, but Laurence Sheehan (32), Tyson McCallum (20) and Liam Chang (35 not out) got Pius back on track.

The chase was a disaster for the hosts as Blake Kreuzberger (8), Brien (4), Ethan Muller and Liam Cooke (both 0) were sent back early.

Tom Lynch (25) almost capitalised on his promising start before skipper Matt Beattie (34) and Jack Goodsell (58) tried their hardest to rescue the chase - to no avail.

Goodsell was the pick of the Stannies players, having earlier recorded bowling figures of 1-23 from seven overs.

Remarkably, the previously unbeaten minor premiers Saint Patrick's College were bested by Oakhill College in a big six wicket loss during the weekend's other semi-final - setting up what looked like an impossible matchup just a week earlier.