India scored yet another victory against Pakistan in a World Cup match and this time, the Men in Blue delivered in the final of the Blind T20 World Cup. The nine-wicket victory meant skipper Ajay Kumar Reddy and his men avenged the defeat to their arch-rivals in the league phase of the competition, as they successfully defended their trophy in front of an adoring crowd.
Pakistan, who came into the title clash at the M Chinnaswamy stadium with nine wins out of nine, won the toss and decided to bat first. The visitors got off to a modest start with openers Badar Munir and Mu Indian fielders excelled.
Munir soldiered on and reached his half-century but he was dismissed for 57, caught by Ganesh Babubhai Mundakar off the bowling of Ketan Patel. The loss of their inform batsman hurt Pakistan as they lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter. Still, they posted a challenging 197-8 in their quota of 20 overs.
In reply, India were in no mood to let the opportunity slip away as vice-captain Prakash Jayaramaiah and Hammad Jamil taking the team past the 50-run mark. However, Jamil was run out for 24 on a day when the Reddy stitched together a first wicket stand of 98 runs. While the skipper was run out for 43, his opening partner scored a fine half-century. No. 3 Ketan Patel chipped in with a handy 26 before he retired hurt. Man of the Match Jayaramaiah, who fell short of his ton by a run, then helped the hosts seal the deal with nine wickets to spare. An overjoyed Indian team then thanked supporters -some of whom included Sandalwood and reality television star Kirik Keerthi, fellow actors Sabyasashi Mishra and Mayuri Rajguru apart from the other teams involved in the competition -with a lap of honour.
