The home side was tottering at 61 for three when Khurasia walked in to steady the innings with skipper Kanitkar. Unfazed by the terror unleashed by speedster Reon King, the 26-year-old Madhya Pradesh lad waded into the rival attack with an array of attractive strokeplay to infuse life in the innings. With the 24-year-old Kanitkar playing the support cast to perfection, the pair dominated the middle session in an alliance worth 112 runs in 26.4 overs.

Khurasia made his intentions clear early in his innings when he clouted left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell into the stands over long-on. But the shot that stood out in his 83-ball essay of 65 was an elegant cover-driven boundary off left-arm paceman Pedro Collins. He finally departed in the firstover of the final session when he misjudged leg-spinner Rawl Lewis and saw the ball graze his off stump.

But by then his heroics must have created an impression on Ajit Wadekar and Anil Deshpande -- the two National selectors watching the match. Last season, Khurasia cracked 117 in 107 balls against an Australian attack powered by Paul Reiffel, Adam Dale, Paul Wilson and Stuart MacGill while representing the President's XI. The knock finally earned him the recognition as he was picked in the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games, where he left his stamp with a match-winning knock of 83 against the Canadians.

Kanitkar, who grew in stature as the innings progressed, appeared heading for a big score. But a superb catch by Adrian Griffith at short mid-wicket ended his tenure. In his 68-run innings, he was particularly severe on McGarrell, slamming four of the eight boundaries off him in his 221-minute vigil at the crease.

The innings seemingly lost way after Khurasia and Kanitkar's fightback as fourwickets fell for the addition of 49 runs. Harbhajan Singh (batting 27) then exhibited his batting prowess as he saw the day through in the company of Rahul Sanghvi (batting nine).

Earlier, Board President's XI had something to cheer about even before the three-day contest got under way this morning when skipper and pace spearhead Ian Bishop opted out paving way for Sherwin Campbell to lead the side. In the event, 23-year-old King held centrestage, leaving openers Jitender Singh (7) and Vijay Bharadwaj (3) in a daze.

Jitender bore the brunt suffering body blows as King, opening the attack, sent three maidens in succession. King's frugal first spell read 7-5-3-0. Ironically, despite unsettling most of the batsmen with sheer pace and awkward bounce, he failed to figure among the wickets.

Jitender ended his misery at the crease by slashing Collins for wicket-keeper Wayne Philip, making his first class debut, to pouch a diving catch in front of first slip.

Bharadwaj, too, suffered a similar fate at thehands of King, who returned for his second spell. The Karnataka batsman, who heads the domestic averages this season, was all at sea against King. He was even struck on his chest once. In trying to break the shackles, he stepped out to Lewis which resulting in a leading edge to the slip.

Opener Nikhil Haldipur (29), Amol Muzumdar (12) and wicket-keeper MSK Prasad (17) did little to impress during their brief tenures.

SCOREBOARD

Board President's XI (1st innings): Jitender Singh c Philip b Collins 7 (60b, 81m), Nikhil Haldipur c Griffith b Semple 29 (65b, 95m, 5x4), Amol Muzumdar lbw McGarrell 12 (38b, 53m, 1x4), Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Griffith b Lewis 68 (141b, 221m, 8x4), Amay Khurasia b Lewis 65 (83b, 107m, 7x4, 1x6), Vijay Bharadwaj c Campbell b Lewis 3 (34b, 35m), MSK Prasad c Lewis b McGarrell 17 (43b, 56m, 1x4), Harbhajan Singh batting 27 (49b, 54m, 5x4), Rahul Sanghvi batting 9 (37b, 35m); Extras (b3, lb2, nb10) 15. Total (for 7 wkts in 372 minutes, 90 overs): 252

Fall of wickets:1-31, 2-43, 3-61, 4-173, 5-187, 6-207, 7-222

Bowling: King 17-9-22-0, Collins 19-4-51-1 (2nb), Semple 9-1-25-1, McGarrell 23-4-72-2, Lewis 21-1-70-3 (8nb), Smith 1-0-7-0