The South Zone Cricket Tournament for the Blind culminated in the gracious presence of Bengaluru Mayor Manjunath Reddy who gave away the winners and runners trophies to Andhra and Karnataka respectively.
The third and final day of the South Zone tournament saw some truly nail biting moments. The South Zone finals was played between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with Andhra winning the toss and put Karnataka to bat.
FINAL TOURNAMENT
Match between: Andhra Pradesh v/s Karnataka
Andhra Pradesh won the toss and elected to field. Batting first Karnataka scored
221 for 3 in 20 overs
Karnataka team made an excellent start with opening bats man Prakash Jayaramaiah (B3) hitting 108 runs out of just 56 balls including 19 boundaries. The rest of the players that followed found it difficult to hold the ground facing the over powering Andhra bowling. The score was restricted to 221 at a loss of 3 wickets due to very tight bowling from Ajay Kumar Reddy (2) and Prem Kumar (B1).
Andhra Pradesh made a slow start with runs trickling in slowly making just 85 runs in the first 10 overs losing 2 wickets. Andhra was chasing an asking run rate of 11.1. Karnataka’s bowling was so good that the asking run rate jumped to 13.7 in the last 10 overs when Andhra had to make 137 in the last 10 overs. The game took a sudden turn 13th over onwards with the unbeaten third wicket partnership of 140 runs between Durga Rao (B 3) and Dunna Venkaeshwar Rao (B 2) – Venkatesh 99 and Durga 77 runs respectively including 17 boundaries. Andhra chased 222 runs with one ball to spare when the scores were level at 19.4 overs. Venkatesh hit the winning boundary. Andhra Pradesh are the 5th time consecutive South Zone Winners.
Man of the Series (B1 Category)
Govindraju for taking 4 important wickets
Man of the Series (B2 Category)
Ajay Reddy for 160 runs out of 85 balls (1 century) and 3 wickets
Man of the Series (B3 Category)
Prakash Jayaramaiah for 290 runs off 133 balls with 2 centuries
The tournament concluded with a valedictory function graced by His Worshipful Mayor amidst other guests. While speaking on the occasion Sri Manjunath Reddy commended the efforts of the organisers and congratulated the teams. He marvelled at the exceptional abilities of the players despite visual impairments and recalled the victorious return of the Indian team from South Africa. Responding to the vociferous plea from S P Nagesh President Cricket Association for the Blind in India Mayor assured to allot a corporation ground conveniently located for developing accessible playground for the visually impaired cricket players and sportsmen. He invited Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled to identify a suitable ground for the purpose and present a proposal.
Mayor to allot ground for Blind Cricket
