On Tuesday, the Rocks were bowled out for 319 runs in their second innings at Boland Park.

Clyde Fortuin and Pieter Malan fought valiantly with the bat by scoring 133 and 96 runs respectively, but the next highest score was 39 not out by Shaun von Berg.

The day, however, belonged to the young left-arm spinner, Monde Maqunqu, who took a career-best 6/82.

The Knights then needed just 6.1 overs to chase down the required runs for the win with nine wickets to spare.

The opening batter of the Knights, Matthew Kleinveldt, was the player of the match for his career-best 199*.

Despite the Knights' strong finish to the season, they are being demoted to Division 2.

This will mean that the team from Bloemfontein will lose some of their big players due to a drastic budget cut. In addition, the Knights will be limited to only 10 contracted players and this will put an emphasis on club cricket in the region to feed the provincial team.

While it is a bitter pill to swallow for the union with a rich history, it is an opportunity to hit the reset button as they start rebuilding to return to their former glory days.

Smart contracting will be needed in order to ensure that they can field a competitive team next season.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport