The Indian Blind Women’s Cricket team, which defeated Australia to win the gold medal at the IBSA World Games in Birmingham, received heartfelt congratulations from President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday. The President congratulated the visually impaired cricketers for their exceptional performance in the tournament while using her official handle on X, formerly Twitter.
“Heartiest congratulations to Indian women’s team for clinching the gold medal by beating Australia in blind cricket tournament! The nation is proud of you for historic and inspiring performance in the first ever edition of blind cricket in IBSA World Games,” President Murmu posted on X.
India held Australia to 114/8 in the allotted 20 overs before chasing down the revised target of 42 in just four overs due to a weather-related intervention. Last week, blind cricket made its debut at the IBSA World Games, with the first match pitting longtime rivals England and Australia against one another. India defeated Australia by 9 wickets in the inaugural women’s visually impaired cricket championship match.
Australia chose to bat first, but they did not have a good start as their first wicket fell in the fourth over. Australia struggled to keep the scoreboard moving, scoring just 29 runs in the powerplay overs, perhaps feeling intimidated and overwhelmed by the pressure of the final of a multi-discipline international sporting event. India further upset the Australian batting order by taking two wickets in the eighth and ninth overs. Australia was in trouble at 39/3 until a partnership of 54 runs between C Lewis and C Webeck helped them reach a competitive total.