Batsmen hold the key in Buchi Babu final

The experience of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) versus the youth of the National Cricket Academy (NCA). That, in a nutshell, sums up the prospects for the three day MRF sponsored Buchi Babu all India invitation tournament final which commences at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Friday, Ganesh Chaturthi.

Both teams have advanced to the title round on the strength of their batting. For the NCA, opener SS Das and middle order batsmen Gambhir, Kaif, Yuvaraj and skipper Sodhi have been among the runs. But this is nullified by the fact that on the ONGC side, Khoda, skipper Vadhera, Saif, Shamshad and Shewag have been in good form with the bat. Centuries have been registered by Yuvaraj and Das for the NCA and by Vadhera, Shamshad and Saif for ONGC.

In the bowling department however, ONGC would appear to have the edge. In Bhandari, Shewag and Sanghvi they have the better balanced attack. But as the NCA have proved, Patel, Sodhi, Tripathi and Dhruve are capable of bowling a side out.

But overall the final is likely to be a `batathon' if the form shown by the teams in the preliminary matches is any indication. In the pre quarterfinal against Air India, the NCA replied to a total of 277 with 420. In the next round, replying to KSCA's 243, the NCA got 326. And in the penultimate round, NCA scored 438 while replying to Indian Airlines' 267.

ONGC on their part ran up a total of 484 for five declared in the quarterfinal against Associate Banks who could only reply with 260. In the semifinal, pitted against tough opposition, ONGC still kept their nerves and overtook the New Zealand Cricket Academy's total of 329 with their last wicket pair at the crease. They were perhaps a shade lucky to be adjudged winners on the toss of a coin when their rain affected pre quarterfinal tie against TNCA President's XI was left abandoned without even the first innings being completed. ONGC were 95 for two in reply to the home team's 383.

With the sun making its presence felt quite strongly over the past couple of days, it is to be hoped that the rain affected tournament will draw to a satisfactory conclusion with two teams of equal strength dishing out some excellent fare. The batsmen on both sides obviously hold the key.