Kolkata: The Indian blind cricket team has won the Twenty20 Blind Cricket World Cup by beating arch rivals, Pakistan by nine wickets in the final which was held in Bengaluru today. This is India’s second blind T20 title. India had defeated the same opponents back in 2012.
Both the teams sealed their place in the final by putting in some scintillating performances. Team India had won eight out of the nine matches it played and lost only to Pakistan. India went on to beat Sri Lanka in the semi-final by a convincing ten wicket margin to seal the place in the summit clash. Pakistan had been going one better by winning all nine matches and it had edged out England by a gargantuan 147 runs.
Batting first, Pakistan kept the scorekeepers busy by posting a total of 197/9 in 20 overs. The key contribution came from Badar Munir, who scored 57 off 37 balls. He was supported by Muhammad Jamil who scored a brisk 24 off just 15 balls, thus putting up a 58-run partnership.
India got off to a flying start as the opening pair of Ajay Kumar Reddy and Prakasha Jayaramaiah smashed the Pakistani bowlers all around the park. India scored at a rate of more than ten runs an over and took control of the game and at the half way point it was 109 for no loss. Reddy was run out at 43, and Ketan Patel played a brisk innings for his 26 before he retired hurt. Dunna Venkatesh walked into the middle and struck up a good partnership with Jayaramaiah. India finished the game within the 18th over in spectacular fashion by smashing a boundary. Jayaramaiah missed out on the century by just one run as he remained unbeaten on 99 when the winning runs were hit.
Truly a clinical performance by the Indian team.
(With inputs from The Express Tribune and The Indian Express)