T20 Blind WC: India thrash Pak by nine wickets to defend title

Bangalore [India], Feb.12 (ANI): India successfully defended their title in the T20 World Cup for the Blind after trouncing arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets in the finals of the tournament at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday. Opting to bat first, Pakistan posted a respectable total of 197-9 on the scoreboard, with Badar Munir smashing 57 off 37 balls including eight boundaries and a six during the way. Munir was well supported by Muhammad Jamil (24 off 15 balls) as the duo stitched a 58-run stand for the opening wicket. For the hosts, Ketan Patel and Md. Jaffar Igbal scalped two wickets each while Sunil R and Ajay Kumar Reddy chipped in with a wicket each. In reply, Prakasha Jayaramaiah scored 15 boundaries in his 99-run knock besides sharing a crucial opening partnership of 98 runs with Ajay Kumar Reddy (43) to help India chase down the target with 14 balls to spare. First drop Ketan Patel also contributed 26 runs before retiring hurt. Incidentally, in the previous and only edition of the tournament, Pakistan had been on the losing end then too. Earlier, both teams came into the final contest with a superb record during the tournament. While India had won eight out of nine games they played, Pakistan were even more better by winning all nine matches.(ANI)