India has once again lifted the T20 world cup for the second time in a row. Prakasha Jayaramaiah’s beautiful 99 helped India crush Pakistan a by a nine-wicket margin to defend their T20 Blind Cricket World Cup title, in Bangalore on Sunday.
Out of the nine matches, India has lost only in one match that also to Pakistan. So the pressure was really hard to India, them being the defending champions. India had lost to Pakistan in the group state st Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.
Pakistan has been unbeaten throughout the tournament.
Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, Badar Munir’s 50 helped Pakistan to a decent score of 197 for 9 from their allotted overs. Munir commanded the game with a 58-run partnership with his fellow opener Muhammad Jamil (24) and Amir Ishfaq (20) for the third wicket stand, worth 60 runs, that took their side to 118 for 1 in the 11th over.
A brief period was seen where Ketan Patel and Mohammad Jaffar Igbal made the game a bit slower. The duo took two wickets apiece in the middle overs that reduced Pakistan to 141 for 5. Late arrivals from lower order batsmen Riasat Khan (16), Muhammad Zafar (16) and Mati Ullah (15 not out) in the death overs propelled Pakistan to 197.
India faced little difficulty in overcoming the target, but an aggressive 99 from opener Jayaramaiah helped to reach the finish line with ease. Ajay Kumar Reddy, at the other end, chipped in with a 31-ball 43 before being run out in the 11th over when they were still 88 far of the target.
Unbalanced, Jayaramaiah continued on the strike and put on a 51-run partnership with Ketan that all but sealed the fate of the game. By the time the No. 3 batsman retired hurt on 26, India needed another 37 off 32. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who found the fence 15 times in his 60-ball effort, was left stranded one short of a what would have been a memorable ton as the hosts overhauled the target with 14 balls to spare.
Ironically, Pakistan ended as runners-up to India in the previous edition as well.
Brief scores: Pakistan 197 for 8 in 20 overs (Badar Muni 57; Ketan Patel 2-29, Mohammad Jaffar Igbal 2-33) lost to India 200/1 in 17.4 overs (Prakasha Jayaramaiah 99*, Ajay Kumar Reddy 43) by nine wickets.
