ISLAMABAD: Pakistan won the Triangular Blind Cricket T20 Tournament in Sharjah, UAE, after thumping arch-rivals India by 58 runs in the final on Saturday.
The tri-nation blind series featuring Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, kicked off on March 13 with the opening match played between Pakistan and India, which the Pakistani team won, remaining unbeaten throughout the league and winning all seven matches they played.
On Friday, Pakistan cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh. The Men in Green chased down the target of 100 runs with ease in just 10.5 overs for the loss of three wickets.
During the final at Skyland University Cricket Ground in Sharjah, Pakistan won the toss against India and decided to bat first. The decision paid off as they managed to score an impressive 216 runs for the loss of three wickets after their allotted 20 overs.
Badar Munir was the pick of the batters for Pakistan, scoring a stellar 63 runs off 25 balls, hitting 5 sixes and three boundaries. Nisar Ali rose to the occasion as well, scoring 70 runs off 51 balls. He hit five boundaries during his inning.
India failed to cash in on Sunil Ramesh’s heroics, who made a fighting 91 off 66 balls. Munir starred with the ball as well, picking up three wickets from his four overs and giving away only 21 runs.
India, in reply, managed to finish at 158/9 from their 20 overs. Munir, as expected, was awarded the Player of the Match award for his stellar performance with both bat and ball.
According to blind cricket rules, a team needs to comprise 11 players, with a minimum of four totally blind players, three partially blind players and a maximum of four partially sighted players
Partially blind players have been classified as those who can recognize the shape of the hand up to a visual acuity of 2/60 or a visual field of fewer than five degrees in the better eye after correction.
Partially sighted players have been classified as those who have visual acuity above 2/60 up to visual acuity of 6/60 or a visual field of fewer than 20 degrees in the better eye after correction.