Prakasha hits another ton, powers India to fourth win

Prakasha Jayaramaiah’s century-scoring spree continued as he notched up his third hundred in four games to help India post their fourth successive win in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup for the Blind at the Central College ground on Thursday.

Asked to bat, India made the most of Sri Lanka’s lack of depth in the bowling department and scored 300 for four in 20 overs. Later, Ajay Kumar Reddy and Pankaj Bhue came to the party as they scalped a couple of wickets apiece to bowl the Lankans out for a modest 132 in 19.5 overs.

Man-of-the-match Prakasha, who hit a record-breaking 174 against Australia in India’s opener, struck 33 boundaries to score 149 runs from a mere 54 balls as Ganeshbhai Bushara (53) ably supported the fiery batsman at the other end.

India next run into arch-rivals and two-time 40-over World Cup champions Pakistan at the Aditya Global Sports Grounds in Nelamangala on Friday.

Meanwhile, Australia cruised to a facile nine-wicket win over Nepal. After Peter Robinson ran through Nepal’s batting line-up, reducing them to 130 for eight, Mathew McCarthy (56) and Michael Zannis (36) came with good knocks to seal the encounter.

In the other match, title contenders England, ridding on the back of Mathew Dean’s 139-run effort, registered a facile 85-run win over South Africa, while the West Indies scored their opening win of the tournament with a stunning 10-wicket drubbing of
Bangladesh.

Brief scores: India: 300/4 in 20 overs (Prakasha Jayaramaiah 149, Ganeshbhai Bushara 53, Ajay Kumar Reddy 29; MASP Gunawardane 2-46) bt Sri Lanka: 132 all out in 19.5 overs (Karuna Tilaka 46; Ajay K Reddy 2-24, Pankaj Bhue 2-4); Nepal: 130/8 in 20 overs (Ramprasad 37 n.o.; Peter Robinson 4-12) lt to Australia: 133/1 in 9.5 overs (Mathew McCarthy 56, Michael Zannis 36); Bangladesh: 81/9 in 20 overs (Halden Forde 3-17, Anthony Cummins 2-21) lt to West Indies: 82/0 in 4.5 overs (Toussaint Gardner 43, Caneel Graham 38); England: 265/1 in 20 overs (Mathew Dean 139, Justin Hollingsworth 69) bt South Africa: 180/6 in 20 overs (Sowwabile Bidla 75, Jermain Collins 35 n.o.; Luke Sugg 3-17).