Bangalore, Nov 11
Railways defeated Chattisgarh by four wickets in the ongoing 7th edition of the Men's National T20 Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2024-25, also known as the Nagesh Trophy, held here on Monday. The Nagesh Trophy kicked off with all four teams of Group F - Chhattisgarh, Railways, Assam, and Jharkhand battling out for the glory at the Sersa Stadium, Kharagpur West Bengal. The tournament will be held from November 10, 2024, to February 20, 2025. The league stage will be played at six venues until December 27.
In their opening match on Monday, Chhattisgarh scored 190/7 in 20 overs, but Railways chased it down to reach 192/6 in 19.2 overs, securing victory. Akshaya Verma and Mebin Anto smashed 66 and 46 runs respectively for Railways. Akshay Verma was adjudged the Player of the Match.
In the second match of the day, Jharkhand scored 214/6 in the 20 overs. But Assam could not chase down the target and could manage only 105/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Sanjeev Kerketta of the Jharkhand team was named the Player of the Match for his gutsy knock of 58 runs.
The league matches of the 7th edition of the Nagesh Trophy will be played across six venues: Bengaluru (Karnataka), Kota (Rajasthan), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Hyderabad (Telangana), Ludhiana (Punjab), and Kharagpur (West Bengal). Meanwhile, after the league matches end on December 27, 2024, 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 in February 2025.
A total of 28 teams, including 24 state and three Union Territories, as well as an Indian Railways, will compete in this tournament for visually impaired people in the T20 format tournament.
The Nagesh Trophy was launched in memory of Late SP Nagesh, Founder President, of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India and Founder Trustee, of the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. The launch of the tournament brought together the entire blind cricket community into one huge platform, by creating a milestone in blind cricket history.