India rode on Sunil Ramesh’s half-century to post a mammoth 224/3 in 20 overs. In reply, Pakistan managed 178/6.
Dubai: Sunil Ramesh starred with the bat as his 61-ball 87 helped the Indian men’s blind cricket team beat Pakistan by 46 runs in the second T20 match of the ongoing Friendship Cricket Series for the Blind on Friday. With this win, India level the series 1-1. Pakistan had won the first game at the same venue. Opting to bat first, India rode on Ramesh’s knock to put 224/3 in 20 overs. Ajay Kumar Reddy also contributed with 42. In reply, Pakistan could manage just 178/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Batting first, India were always on the top from the start. The opening pair of Ramesh and D Venkateswara Rao put on 121 runs before the latter was dismissed for 56 off 41 balls in the 13th over. But that didn’t had an impact on the flow of runs as Ramesh and Reddy stitched another big stand to take the side over 200-run mark.
Notably, India took 15 runs off the last over while Pakistan conceded 39 extras. In reply, Pakistan were off to a brisk start, reaching the 60-run mark in the seventh wicket but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Though skipper Badar Munir revived Pakistan’s innings in the middle overs, India took a couple of more wickets to dent the rival team’s hopes.
Ramesh was adjudged the player of the match. The teams will play the third and final match of the series on Sunday. Consul General of Pakistan in Dubai, Hussain Muhammad, was present during the post-match presentation ceremony and met all the players and congratulated them.