Board President's XI lift Wills Trophy

The fact that, controrary to expectations, the Wills Trophy final had a tame finish might have come as a disappointment to the fans who made it to the Indira Priyadarshini stadium in Visakapatnam on Monday. But even as Board President's XI cruised to a 97-run win over Karnataka, there were many fine individual performances to savour.

The first came very early in the match. Off the first ball of the match, Dodda Ganesh had SS Das caught by wicketkeeper Shiraguppi. Three balls later, he had the all important wicket of Md Azharuddin, also for a duck. The Board President's XI captain was caught by Sujith Somasundar. By the end of the first over then Board President's XI were zero for two.

Mansoor Ali Khan, Ganesh's partner did not take long to strike. He had left hander S Sriram caught by Akhil and Board President's XI were 20 for three in the sixth over.

After these early reverses, Board President's XI started to assert themselves. First, opener Jyoti Yadav and ND Modi added 97 runs for the fourth wicket off 23.5 overs. Yadav's batting was commendable for he stood firm even as the early wickets were falling. Finally he was bowled by Yalvigi for 56. The UP batsman faced 82 balls and hit six fours.

By now Board President's XI had wrested the initiative and Modi and the in form Sanjai Bangar rattled up 27 runs off six overs for the fifth wicket before Modi was caught by Ganesh off Johnson for 51. The Gujarat batsman faced 84 balls and hit two fours. Bangar now steadily gained ascendency over the attack and he and all rounder Aashish Kapoor maintained the momentum with a brisk sixth wicket partnership of 41 runs off 5.5 overs. Kapoor then snicked Khan to Shiraguppi for 17. In the next over Vijay Dahiya was run out for one and with Board President's XI 186 for seven in the 42nd over, Karnataka had recovered some ground. But Bangar and J Gokulakrishnan turned the match in Board President's XI favour with some breezy hitting. The two added 63 runs off 6.3 overs for the eighth wicket before Gokulakrishnan was caught by Somasundar off Ganesh for 31. He faced 20 balls and hit three fours and a six. Murali Karthik was run out in the same over but Bangar and last man T Kumaran took the final total to a challenging 262 for nine in 50 overs. Bangar, who had breezy knocks of 38 and 51 not out in the previous two games, continued his good form with an unbeaten 71 off 60 balls with five fours and a six. Among the Karnataka bowlers, Ganesh after his dream start had to remain content with figures of three for 61 off ten overs.

With the bowlers being treated rather harshly, much now depended on the Karnataka batsmen. Openers Arun Kumar (26) and Mithun Beerala (21) gave their side a good start putting on 48 runs off 12.2 overs. But Kumaran gave the breakthrough by bowling Beerala. A little later, Arun Kumar was bowled by left arm spinner Murali Karthik. And when the consistent Tilak Naidu was caught by Yadav off Karthik for one, Karnataka had slid to 53 for three.

Sujith Somasundar (39) and Somasekhar Shiraguppi (22) revived Karnataka's hopes with a fourth wicket partnership of 39 runs off 11 overs. After the latter's departure, Somasundar and Yalvigi (32) kept the innings going with a breezy fifth wicket partnership of 49 runs off 6.3 overs and at 141 for four in the 36th over, Karnataka did seem to have an outside chance. But Somasundar's run out at this stage saw Karnataka suffer a sudden slide. Karthik and off spinner Aashish Kapoor took two wickets each quickly as Karnataka lost their last six wickets for 24 runs off five overs to be all out for 165 in 40.4 overs. Karthik Murali was easily the pick of the Board President's XI bowlers and was justly rewarded with four wickets for 17 runs off 8.4 overs. Kapoor who took the wickets of Ganesh and Johnson in the same over, had two for 23 off six overs.