New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS): India defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets with ease to secure their third consecutive victory in the 3rd T20 Cricket World Cup for the Blind, which was played at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Opting to field, India made early inroads after dismissing the Bangla openers Salman and Abid inside 3 overs.
Captain Md. Ashiqur Rahman and Md. Arif rebuilt the innings and stitched together a partnership of 84 runs for the third wicket. The partnership was broken in the 13th over when Arif was dismissed courtesy of a run out after scoring 33 runs off 33 balls.
Ashiqur Rahman was then joined by Tanzil in the middle and the pair batted till the end of the innings, taking the total to 166 with a partnership of 61 runs. Ashiqur Rahman was dismissed in the last ball of the innings after scoring a well made 75 off 53 balls. Tanzil remained unbeaten at 20.
In reply, the Indian openers T. Durga Rao and Nakula Badanayak made a quick start and scored 95 runs of 8.3 overs. Nakula was the first wicket to fall for India after scoring a quick 36 of 24 balls.
Durga Rao continued to make runs quickly and while the time he was retired out in the 12th over, India were just 15 runs away from the target. He scored 73 runs of 43 balls with the help of 10 fours and one six. Captain Ajay Kumar Reddy and Sunil Ramesh finished the match without any further trouble in 13.1 overs.
In the other round robin match played at Altiore Sports Ground, Bengaluru, Sri Lanka beat Nepal by 7 wickets to secure their fourth consecutive victory of the tournament.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field in the match which was reduced to 15 overs per side due to wet conditions. They restricted the Nepal lineup to just 87 runs in their 15 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. Only Khemananda Ghatre and Prem Chettri could manage double figures.
Sri Lanka achieved the target in just 7.1 overs with the loss of 3 wickets. Chandana Deshapriya top scored with an unbeaten 40. Sunil Rana Magar took 2 wickets for Nepal.
Nepal have finished their tournament without a win. The last round of league matches will be played on Wednesday with India taking on Sri Lanka and South Africa facing Bangladesh.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh - 166/4 in 20 overs (Md. Ashiqur Rahman 75, Md. Arif 33; Nakula Badanayak 1/8 ) lost to India 167/3 in 13.1 overs (T. Durga Rao 73, Nakula Badanayak 36) by 7 wickets
Nepal - 87/7 in 15 overs (Khemananda Ghatre 18, Prem Chettri 16; Dinesh Maduwantha 1/7) lost to Sri Lanka 88/3 in 7.1 overs (Chandana Deshapriya 40 not out; Sunil Rana Magar 2/30) by 7 wickets