Blind T20 World Cup roundup: India, Pakistan record comfortable wins on Day 1

The T20 Cricket World Cup for the visually impaired kicked off in Delhi on Monday today, as India faced off against Bangladesh at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ground and Pakistan took on New Zealand at the DDA Siri Fort Sports Complex. India, who are the defending champions, recorded a comfortable 129-run victory while arch-rivals Pakistan strolled to a ten-wicket win against the Kiwis.

The Indian side, led by Ajay Reddy, won the toss and chose to bat first. Bangladesh started poorly as they conceded 31 runs in the very first over itself and by the time the powerplay ended, India were already at 89/0 with Prakash crossing the half-century mark with his 12^th boundary of the day. The duo dominated the bowling attack before Prakash was dismissed on the last ball of the 13^th over four runs short of a century.

They ended their quota of 20 overs at a huge total of 279/5, with Ketan getting run out on the last ball of the innings. Ketan, who is a B1 category player (which means completely blind), endured a slow start but accelerated quickly to end his knock at 98 runs.

In reply, Bangladesh started out in the worst possible manner as they lost opener Arif with the second ball of the innings. They lost three more wickets by the end of the six-over mark, with Deepak picking up two in two balls.

By the tenth over, the men in green were down to their last four wickets at 71/6 but a 67-run stand between Mohammad Joy and Mohammad Resve got them to a respectable total before Joy was run out after a mix-up. The visitors ended their innings at 150/7 – a decent showing from a side that had arrived for the tournament just three days prior to the game.

India 279/5 (Ketan 98, Prakash 96, Md Hossen 1/14) defeated Bangladesh 150/7 (Md Joy 31, Md Malek 29, Deepak 2/20) by 129 runs

In the other game, it was Pakistan that won the toss and opted to bowl first. The New Zealand side, also known as the Blindcaps lost their opener J Dunn in the very first over. Runs were coming at a slow pace and the next three batsmen all got out via run outs by Israr Hassan, a B3 category player. They could only muster a total of 112/7 in their 20 overs, with opener M McCaskill top-scoring with 27 off 47 balls. Pakistan used eight bowlers, with only one recording an economy rate above six-an-over.

The Pakistanis made light work of their chase, getting to the target in just 7.2 overs. B2 batsman Badar Munir shone with the bat, scoring 92 runs off just 35 balls, with 17 fours and one six. They will now take on England in their next match at the same venue i.e. the Siri Fort Sports Complex on Tuesday.

New Zealand 112/7 (M McCaskill 27, G Williamson 14*, Md Jamil 2/11) lost to Pakistan 117/0 (Badar Munir 92*, Mohsin Khan 15*) by 10 wickets