Given he spent countless hours carefully tendering to the Manuka Oval turf, it was only fitting Nathan Lyon hit the winning runs to secure the first Sheffield Shield final in Canberra in the competition's 121-year history.
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Lyon wouldn't have even minded the hit to his hip pocket as he scampered through for a single to deliver NSW a gripping three-wicket win against a dogged Western Australia at Manuka Oval on Friday.
As fate would have it, the two teams will meet again at the same venue next Friday after Victoria answered WA's prayers and prevented Queensland from grabbing an outright victory.
NSW is expected to be boosted with the addition of Michael Clarke, while Lyon and dumped Test batsman Shaun Marsh are both free to play.
The pair were fined 20 per cent of their match fees for breaching Cricket Australia's code of conduct for dissent for a controversial umpiring incident on day three.
Marsh stood his ground after he was given out leg before wicket to the former Manuka Oval grounds keeper when he was on 100.
Umpire Paul Wilson then overturned his original decision, leading Lyon to kick the stumps in frustration.
NSW captain Steve Smith – who anchored the successful run chase with 89 – believed Wilson had made the right call and defended Lyon for his reaction.
"I don't think [Lyon] touched the stump too hard,'' Smith said.
"He just tapped the stump and it came out, probably looked a little bit worse than what it was.
"It was the right [umpiring] decision in the end and it takes a lot of courage from Paul to change his decision.''
WA skipper Adam Voges said he had previously had a decision overturned by Wilson, and all that mattered was that the correct call had been made.
Marsh went on to make 113 to give WA a second innings total of 316, setting NSW a competitive target of 213.
Resuming on Friday at 2-104, what appeared to be a straightforward chase got complicated when the Blues were reduced to 6-159.
Smith continued to play his shots, but fell on his sword in the final over before lunch when he holed out in the deep to Ashton Agar.
Lyon came to the crease to partner Stephen O'Keefe, surviving a few nervous moments before they got the Blues over the line.
"It's always a little bit of an advantage to have a home final,'' Smith said.
"This wicket will suit us next week, hopefully it's a little bit flatter and not quite the same start as this game.
"Stephen O'Keefe batted beautifully and he [Lyon] played some nice sweep shots, so it's amazing to get over the line.''
WA can take heart from the fact it forced the match into a thrilling finish after slumping to 5-15 in the opening session on Tuesday.
After being bowled out for 82 in its first innings, the Warriors pushed the Blues to the brink and will need to do that again if they are to win their first Shield title since 1998-99.
"I think we gave them a bit of a scare today,'' Voges said.
''We fought really hard and that's been a characteristic of our team all season.
''I was really proud of how the boys went about things the last few days, but you can't avoid the fact we got bowled out for 82 and we were chasing the game from then on.''
Along with the final, Canberra will also host the state cricket awards on Wednesday featuring the best male and female players from around the country.
Queensland missed the chance to leapfrog WA into second spot on the table when its match with Victoria finished in a draw.
Victoria batted superbly to finish at 2-314 in its second innings at the MCG.
