Sunil Ramesh scored a notable 93-run knock as India thrashed Pakistan by two wickets to clinch the Blind Cricket World Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE on Saturday. It was India's second title at the mega event as earlier they won World Cup, outclassing Pakistan at Cape Town, South Africa in December 2014.
Earlier, Pakistan rode on Badar Munir's fifty to give India a competitive target of 309 runs in the final of the fifth edition of Blind Cricket World Cup. India achieved the target in 38.2 overs.
Riyasat Khan and skipper Nisar Ali scored 48 and 47 runs respectively to contribute to Pakistan's huge total after they were asked to bat first by India.
Ramesh then led the run chase as India overhauled the target with eight balls to spare to retain the trophy that they had won in 2014 after beating the same opponents at Cape Town, South Africa.
India struggled in the final stages of their run chase as Pakistan claimed three successive wickets to gain an upper hand over their arch-rivals.
However, a wide delivery rolled on to the boundary and the pendulum swung back in India's favour.
Accolades poured in for the Indian team with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulating the team for their achievement.
"Congratulations to our cricket team for winning the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup! They make the nation proud and inspire every Indian with their game as well as phenomenal attitude. True champions!" Modi wrote on his twitter handle.
Defending champions India also defeated Pakistan by a margin of seven wickets in their group stage match on January 13.
After opting to bat first, Pakistan had posted a competitive target of 282 for eight in their stipulated 40 overs. In reply, India comfortably chased down the target in just 34.5 overs, with Haryana's Deepak Malik (B3 - blind level 3) scoring the highest runs of 79 off 71 balls.
Riding the momentum, India came into the final fresh from a seven-wicket win against Bangladesh at the MCC Ground in Ajman.
Pakistan, on the other hand, had qualified for the finals after thrashing Sri Lanka by 156 runs in the semi-finals of the tournament on Wednesday.
India have remained unbeaten throughout this tournament.
(With agencies inputs)
