Board President's XI upset Kiwis

Mumbai: Board President’s XI registered a 30-run win against New Zealand XI in the visitors’ first warm-up game at Brabourne Stadium here on Tuesday. The runs scored by their top order allowed President’s XI to put up 295/9 and the Kiwis fell way short with Jaydev Unadkat and Shahbaz Nadeem taking three wickets each. 

After Kane Williamson elected to field, the President’s XI responded positively as openers Prithvi Shaw and K.L. Rahul fired on all cylinders. Seventeen-year-old Shaw (66, 80b) played a superb innings. Kiwi pacer Trent Boult heaped praise on him. “I couldn’t believe that Shaw is 17. He played well even when the ball was swinging nicely. He has a great career ahead of him,” he said.

Rahul (68, 75b) was not far behind and complemented his partner well as they shared a 147-run stand for the opening wicket. Both openers were dismissed in quick succession with spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sondhi sharing the spoils. 

Karun Nair, coming in at number three, rose to the occasion. His innings of 78 off 63 balls helped the team to build on the solid start provided by the openers but Boult proved his mettle in the final overs to restrict the President’s XI within 300.

Boult dismissed skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant in quick succession. Just when Pant was looking confident after hitting two successive boundaries in the over prior to his wicket, he flicked Boult’s delivery into the hands of the wicket-keeper. 

The Kiwis began on the front foot with Martin Guptill and Colin Munroe taking the match to their opponents. But they fell one after another, pegging New Zealand XI back. Skipper Willi-amson was gaining rhythm but the introduction of leg-break bowler Karn Sharma did the trick for Board XI. Williamson (47, 49b) played across the line and the top edge went straight into the bowler’s hands. Although Ross Taylor and Tom Latham tried to rebuild, the Kiwis couldn’t sustain their bit to overhaul the target.