ISLAMABAD: Pakistan outclassed arch-rival India by five wickets in the first match of the Pakistan-India Blind Cricket series at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Academy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday.
Naima Alvi Bawany, the daughter of Pakistan’s President Dr. Arif Alvi, flipped the coin for the toss of the Pakistan-India match. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian side managed to score 212 runs in 20 overs. Indian skipper Dargah Rao smashed a 61-run innings for the side, while Venkateswara Rao added 49 crucial runs to the total. From Pakistan’s bowling side, Kamran Akhtar and Badar Munir grabbed two wickets each.
Badar Munir’s Hundred Leads Pakistan to Victory
Chasing 213 to win, the Green-shirts reached the target easily with a terrific hundred by Vice-captain Badar Munir in 19.2 overs. Badar scored 129 runs off 63 balls. He was fully supported by skipper Nisar Ali, who added 18 runs to the total. Pakistan won the contest by 5 wickets.
The second contest of the three-match series will be played on Friday. It may be mentioned that the series was initially planned as a Triangular Blind Cricket T20 series among Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. However, the Sri Lankan team missed the series due to the non-issuance of NOC on time, resulting in the series being shifted to an India-Pakistan blind cricket series.
