(Top) The final of Orissa Premier League in progress and (below) folk dancers perform during the closing ceremony. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, June 12: Excitement was at an all-time high as hot favourites Katak Barabati Tigers (Cuttack) and Western Samurai (Rourkela) came face-to-face for the big game today — the final of the Orissa Premier League.

A persistent drizzle, which continued till evening, failed to dampen the spirit of “an unexpectedly large number” of cricket enthusiasts who queued up at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack to witness the face-off.

The Rourkela team won the toss and decided to bat first. They put up a modest total of 112 runs for six in 20 overs. Wickets fell at crucial stages and the innings lacked dynamism and aggression. Captain, Nataraj Behera was the highest scorer with 26 runs. Pravanjan Mallick claimed two wickets while Biplab Samantaray took one.

Till reports last came in, the Cuttack team had not come out to bat.

The match was preceded by a display of cultural programmes with a blend of modern and folk dance performances taking centrestage. While the opening ceremony included diverse folk dances and was far glitzy, Sambalpuri songs and dance dominated the last day. The Dalkhai performance by the artistes of Sambalpur Kala Parishad brought the crowd alive. People were pouring in until the second innings began.

Earlier, the losing teams of the two semi-finals — JSP Sparks (Jagatsinghpur) and Balasore Baghas — clashed for the third and fourth positions. Chasing a target of 115, the Sparks scored an empathic eight-wicket win over the Baghas in just 15.4 overs.

The Jagatsinghpur side would be awarded Rs 1 lakh and Balasore would receive Rs 50,000. The champion team would get a cash prize of Rs 4 lakh and runners-up would get Rs 2 lakh. The man of the series would take home a red Ford Figo while today’s man of the match would get Rs 25,000. The best bowler and best batsman of the tournament each would receive Rs 10,000 and a Yamaha SZ motorbike.

“We are happy that the OPL has received such overwhelming response from the people in the state. The tournament has provided the right platform to youngsters who got an opportunity to play with experienced Ranji players,” said OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera.