Goa thrashed Railways by 10 wickets while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Punjab by 77 runs in the ongoing sixth edition of Men’s National T20 Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2023-24 also known as Nagesh Trophy on Friday.
The Nagesh Trophy kicked off on Thursday with all four teams of Group E battling out for the glory here at the University of Jammu. The tournament will run till January 30, 2024, and the League stage will be played till December 29, 2023.
In the first match on Friday, Goa restricted Railways to 134/8 in the allotted 20 overs and then chased down the target in the 16th over to register a dominating win. Nilesh and Vinod stitched an unbeaten 135-run partnership to seal the win in style. Nilesh from Goa was the player of the Match.
In the second game, Jammu and Kashmir defeated Punjab following a sensational bowling display. Batting first, Jammu & Kashmir scored 164/6 in the allotted 20 overs and then folded Punjab for 87 to register a thumping win. Sahil was awarded the player of the match.
Jammu & Kashmir and Goa both have now won two matches while Punjab and Railways have faced defeat in both games.
On Thursday, Jammu & Kashmir thrashed Railways by 82 runs at the University of Jammu while Goa defeated Punjab by 3 wickets here.
Jammu & Kashmir will now lock horns with Goa while Railways will meet Punjab on Saturday.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has also joined hands with the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) as Brand Ambassador for Nagesh Trophy.
Meanwhile, after the league matches end on December 29, 2023, the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) in association with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled will hold the Super 8 Stage Matches at Nagpur, Maharashtra in January 2024.
The league matches of the 6th edition of the IndusInd Bank Nagesh Trophy will be played across 6 venues namely, Jammu, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Kochi (Kerala), Chandigarh, Agartala (Tripura), and Kota (Rajasthan).
A total of 28 Teams (State /UT’s and an Indian Railways team which is represented by the Visually Impaired working in Railways) will play in the T20 format Tournament. 28 teams are divided based on last year’s ranking into 6 groups.
The first four groups have five teams each and the last two teams have four teams each.
The 5th edition had the joint winners (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) due to the rain. Odisha has won the Nationals once while Andhra Pradesh had emerged victorious in the finals of the tournament 3 times.
Group A: Group A brings together teams from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Group B: Group B will have trams from Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, and Uttarakhand.
Group C: In Group C, the stage is set for a competitive showdown as Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar face off.
Group D: Group D is a collection of teams, featuring Gujarat, Chandigarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.
Group E: Jammu & Kashmir, Railway, Punjab, and Goa will compete against each other in Group E.
Group F: Group F comprises teams from the north-eastern and central regions of India. Manipur, Assam, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh will showcase their talents. (ANI)
