Birmingham: Indian men's blind cricket team suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Pakistan in their opening match of the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games 2023 in Birmingham on Sunday.
Pakistan defeated India by 18 runs to begin their IBSA World Games 2023 campaign with a resounding victory over the Men In Blue. However, the Indian women's blind cricket team thrashed Australia in their opening match by eight wickets.
In the men's game, India needed 34 runs in the last two overs with 4 wickets in hand but the side was not able to cross the line as Pakistan won the thrilling encounter. Put into bat first, Pakistan men's team smashed 187/8 in the allotted 20 overs. N Ali, M Salman starred with the bat for the Green Army as the duo put on a 67-run stand for the second wicket. Pakistan kept scoring at a brisk rate and were able to cross the 180-run mark in the 20th over. India were fined 6 runs due to slow over rate and as a result Pakistan finished their innings at 187/8. Chasing 188, India got off to a great start as the side scored 60 runs in the powerplay with the loss of one wicket. However, the Men In Blue fell 19 runs short of the target. Sunil Ramesh was the lone warrior for Team India as he scored 62 runs in 40 balls during the chase. India women's blind cricket team beat Australia by 8 wickets
Earlier in the day, the Indian women's blind cricket team thrashed Australia by 8 wickets to kick off their IBSA World Games 2023 campaign with a thumping win.
The Women in Blue won the toss and put Australia to bat first. The team from down under struggled right from the start of the game. Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually restricted to 59/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Chasing 60 runs, Indian captain Varsha U and Basanti Hansda scored 25 and 16 runs respectively. India chased down the target in just 6.5 overs, registering a thumping win over Australia.
Blind cricket in IBSA World Games began on Saturday with England and Australia playing the first match. The occasion marked the first-ever cricket match to take place at the World Games. Australia defeated England by 7 wickets.
The Indian men's blind cricket team will now play against Australia on Monday while the women's team will meet England on the same day in the IBSA World Games 2023 in Birmingham. Brief scores: India women 61/2 (Varsha 25) beat Australia women 59/6 (C Casey 24) Pakistan men 187/8 (M Salman 50) beat India men 169/7 (Sunil Ramesh 62).—IANS
