Birmingham: The Indian women’s blind cricket team will meet Australia in the finals of the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games 2023 here on Saturday .
India has already qualified for the finals and on Thursday the Women In Blue defeated England by 153 runs to end the league stage in style. India has 12 points from 4 games while both England and Australia have 3 points each. However by virtue of net run rate, Australia has topple England to become the second finalist of the tournament.
In today’s match after opting to bat first, India went all gun blazing on England bowlers as Simu Das smashed 40 runs in just 18 balls.
In the first powerplay, India scored 79 runs for no loss. Gangavva H, who came out to bat at number 6 continued her impeccable show at the Games and slammed 33 runs in 20 balls. Runs kept flowing at fast pace and India ended up smashing 217/5 in the allotted 20 overs. This is also India’s third 200 plus score in the tournament.
The target of 218 runs was too much to ask for England batters as the hosts were only able to make 64/4 in 20 overs.
On Wednesday, India created history by becoming the first team to qualify for the finals of IBSA World Games 2023 on the back of their stellar show in Birmingham.
Blind cricket in IBSA World Games made its debut last week with England and Australia playing the first match. When Indian women’s cricket team played their first match of the tournament on August 20, the Women In Blue showed an all round display of talent.
In their opening match against Australia, India won the game by 8 wickets to kick off their campaign in style. The women’s blind cricket team restricted Australia to 59/6 and the chased down the target quite easily in the end.
In the second match against England, India went all guns blazing and scored 268/2 in the allotted 20 overs with Gangavva H smashing 117 in 60 balls. England lost the match by 185 runs.
In the third match on Wednesday, India thrashed Australia by 163 runs to continue their dominant display of cricket. Having won all their league matches, the Indian women’s blind cricket team will meet Australia in the finals on Saturday and will look to clinch the title as well.
Meanwhile, in the men’s game, India will play semi-finals on Friday. If India wins the semi-final clash, they will meet Pakistan in the finals of the IBSA World Games 2023.
Brief Scores: India women 217/5 beat England women 64/4.
