St. David's 118-9 An exciting but bizarre finish to a match that nobody won! That is probably the best way to describe the outcome of Sunday's Knockout Cup final at White Hill field which left many questions unanswered, including the winning team.

Now the St. George's unbeaten record for the season will hinge on a decision within the boardroom of the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control after even umpires Randy Butler and George Francis were not able to determine the winner.

"We don't have any regulations for the Knockout final, just limited overs cricket,'' said Butler afterwards. "The board will have to look at the books and make the decision.'' The fact that no Board officials were present at the end to interpret the rules only added to the confusion, as the debate over who should win the match carried on in the darkness.

St. David's would appear to have the stronger case, having lost one less wicket in reaching 118. St. George's scored their runs in 45.5 over the restricted 48 overs which, in the rules, will count as the full quota of their overs because they were dismissed.

The fact that no board officials were there to present the trophy in case there had been a winner, did not go down too well with St. David's captain Graham Fox.

"I definitely think it's a letdown,'' said Fox, a former St. George's captain.

"I'm very disappointed that the board members are not here to present the trophy so that this situation could have been dealt with. I remember winning the knockout with St. George's five years ago and it was the same thing.

"It's terrible when you have players who commit themselves all season long, playing in the hot sun, and to reach the Knockout final and win it is a big accomplishment. For the board not to be there to present the trophy is disgusting as far as I'm concerned.'' St. George's captain Herbie Bascome also had some concerns.

"It's just unfortunate that the people who are responsible for the game didn't hang around long enough to make sure that these things don't happen,'' said Bascome.

"I thought St. David's played extremely well and I give them all the credit.

"If anything it looks like it's going to be a victory for us, a tie or a replay. I feel that even though we lost the most wickets we scored our runs in less amount of overs than them, 45.5.

"Why should we be held accountable because we lost all our wickets. If we didn't lose all our wickets we would have probably gotten more runs than 118.'' On the playing side, the unbeaten record that St. George's have been proudly protecting all season was threatened by the youngest and oldest players on the field as St. David's dismissed their opponents for an even lower score than the 122 Bailey's Bay fell for last weekend in the semi-finals.

It was the lowest score of the season for St. George's and they had Ryan Steede's 22 in the tailend to thank for even reaching 100 as St. David's had them reeling at 71-7. Steede came together with Troy Hall (13) to put on 36 for the eighth wicket -- the biggest stand of the innings.

The next major contribution came from Wendell Smith at the top of the order with 21 as he saw four partners go by the 27th over before he was fifth out in the 30th over when the score was 59.

George Cannonier showed he can still do wonders with the ball even at age 48 when he claimed five for 30 from 10 overs in one of his rare appearances this season, having been playing in the Commercial League.

Supporting Cannonier was Graham Fox with three for 20 while Sammy Robinson, his new ball partner, had an economical spell of 10 overs, 16 runs, one wicket.

There was controversy surrounding both the wicket and the outfield, both with too much grass on it. As St. David's found out, scoring 118 runs was not going to be easy.

They lost Shea Pitcher and O.J.Pitcher in the same fourth over from Herbie Bascome to make it 9-2 before Landro Minors and Sammy Robinson began the fightback with a stand of 23 for the third wicket.

Controversy surfaced again with some umpiring decisions in the St. David's innings, first when Allen Richardson was given out, caught behind off Cann.

Normally one who doesn't question umpires' decisions, Richardson was clearly upset by Francis' call and just a few minutes after leaving the field he was riding his bike out of the gate, still in his whites.

Fox (14) hit a couple of crisp square drives for fours off Lionel Cann before eventually falling to Cann when Fox's uncle, Eugene Foggo, held a sharp chance at gully. Fox went looking for another drive.

The 15 year old opener, Landro Minors, who toured Canada with the Youth Team this summer, held the key to a St. David's victory as he and Del Hollis (23) put on 34 for the sixth wicket in taking the score from 57 to 91.

The unnecessary run out of Hollis as he went back for a second run, would prove to be a major breakthrough for St. George's who stepped up the pressure with three going down on 109 before Kameron Fox and Todd Tox put on nine for the last wicket to level the score.

Minors was eventually eighth out on 109 in the 44th over after batting for three hours and 11 minutes for his 22. But there was more controversy as he looked clearly short of his ground when a throw from Beaver reached wicketkeeper Wendell Smith as he tried for a second run to bring up the 100.

Francis' reaction to the appeal was to raise his right hand and lift off his hat as he shook his head which angered the St. George's players even more.

Then in the penultimate over St. Geroge's also had a confident appeal against Kameron Fox turned down by Butler for a catch behind. Again the players surrounded the umpires as they voiced their displeasure.

BOWLED HIM -- Cup Match hero Mark Ray is this time dismissed for 10 by Del Hollis in yesterday's Knockout Cup Final at White Hill Field.