Sun Grace's nightmare began soon as they entered the field. Opener Maroof Khan clobbered medium-pacer Mandar Gokarna for 21 runs in the very first over. This included three hits to the fence and a big one over the long on boundary. ``It was pre-planned,'' revealed skipper Jatin Paranjpe after the match. ``The initial onslaught helped in easing the pressure for rest of the day.'' Elf had to reach the target for a drawn match would have handed the trophy to Sun Grace, who had managed a slender first innings lead of 20.The departure of a rampaging Maroof (32 off 38 balls) brought on regular opener Amol Rane to the crease. ``It has been my dream to score well in the TimesShield final and I lived it today,'' said a relieved Rane of his marathon innings which lasted almost three hours and included nine boundaries and a six. It was for the second time that Rane had come in to bat at No 3, that too at the same venue. The last time he did that was in a Harris Shield final, when he made a double-hundred for Shardashram.

``I would have loved to get a hundred today but I guess that was not to be,'' said the 21-year-old who was castled while defending a Rajesh Pawar delivery off the backfoot. The ball take the inside edge and run on to the stumps.

First innings top scorer Sairaj Bahutule chipped in with a 30 before Amol Muzumdar (25: 45b, 4x4) and Paranjpe (33: 37b, 3x4) took over. Both remained unbeaten as Muzumdar ended the match with a boundary.

Sun Grace skipper Rohan Gavaskar looked disappointed but said he was happy to have made the final. ``A total of 223 was never an easy one to defend but I am happy with the way the boys fought till the end.''

Scoreboard

SunGrace (1st innings): 274

Elf Lubricants (1st innings): 254

Sun Grace (2nd innings): 203

Elf Lubricants (2nd innings, overnight 1-0): Maroof Khan c Gavaskar b Pawar 32, Paras Mhambrey c Pagnis b Gavaskar 18, Amol Rane b Pawar 76, Sairaj Bahutule c Sugwekar b Raju 30, Amol Muzumdar not out 25, Jatin Paranjpe not out 33. Extras (4b, 4lb, 1w, 4nb): 13. Total (for four wickets in 74.5 overs) 227.

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-62, 3-160, 4-168.

Bowling: Z Khan 6-1-21-0, Raju 25-5-54-1, Gokarna 1-0-21-0, Pawar 19-4-65-2, Gavaskar 10-1-26-1, I Khan 15-5-24-0, Morris 1-0-2-0, Sugwekar 0.5-5-0.

Umpires: Suresh Shastri, CS Lalaji.

Results: Elf won by six wickets.