Sunil Ramesh slammed a superb 93 as India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by two wickets in a thrilling summit clash to retain the Blind Cricket World Cup title at Sharjah on Saturday. Batting first, Pakistan amassed 307 for eight in 40 overs, courtesy some useful contribution by Badar Munir (57), Risayat Khan (48) and captain Nisar Ali (47).
For India, Deepak Malik and Rambir took two wickets, while Sunil Ramesh snapped one. Ramesh then blasted a scintillating 93 runs in 67 balls and skipper Ajay Reddy scored 62 in 60 balls as India overhauled the target with an over to spare to retain the trophy that they had won in 2014 after beating the same opponents at Cape Town, South Africa.
Chasing the target, Prakash and Venkatesh opened in grand style and gave a flying start. They managed the scoring rate at 10 per over. Venkatesh scored 35 in 32 balls, while Prakash scored 44 in 42 balls.
India struggled in the final stages of their run chase as Pakistan claimed three successive wickets to gain an upper hand over their arch-rivals. However, a wide delivery rolled on to the boundary and the pendulum swung back in India's favour. India had beaten Pakistan on January 13 in the group stage. The defending champions had beaten Bangladesh by seven wickets in the semi-final.
Accolades poured in for the Indian team with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulating the team for their achievement. “Congratulations to our cricket team for winning the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup! They make the nation proud and inspire every Indian with their game as well as phenomenal attitude. True champions!,” Modi wrote on his twitter handle.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also heaped praise on the team. “What a win by #TeamIndia. Congratulations on winning #BlindCricket-WorldCup,” he wrote.
Former India batsman VVS Laxman wrote: “Congratulations to each and every member of the Indian team for winning the #BlindCricket-WorldCup.”
