Windies out of T20 for the blind

By Michael Phillips

As the saying goes, ‘All good things must come to an end’, and so it did for the West Indies Blind Cricket team. After getting a late surge in the inaugural World T20 for the Blind which is currently ongoing in Bangalore, India, the Windies were forced to bow out in their final preliminary match which took place on Monday.

Playing in the game which had all eyes on it, the West Indies went in to bat first and put up a rather commendable total of 208 runs in their 20 overs. However, without breaking much of a sweat, their opponents England knocked of the target in 16 overs inclusive of a six-runs penalty.

The game was one that had several teams hanging in the balance and watching and waiting with bated breath. With only one spot left in the semi-final round either team could have qualified with a win. The win gave England the berth, however a win by the West Indies could have meant either the Windies or the Australians would have been going on since they would have both been on the same points. West Indies would have needed to win and convincingly to secure a better net run rate.

The Windies campaign had the makings somewhat of a Cinderella story as they got off to a poor start, losing their first three games, winning their fourth, losing their fifth and coming back to win numbers six and seven in consecutive days of play. Monday’s game against England also came on the trot to bring to an end a rather strong first outing in the World T20 for the Blind.