28 November 1998

South Africa snatch World Cup for sight impaired

AFP

NEW DELHI, Nov 28 (AFP) - A stunning unbeaten opening partnership of 376 from brothers Rory and Scott Field saw South Africa lift the inaugural cricket World Cup for the blind here on Saturday.

Rory struck 193 and Scott contributed 159 as South Africa scored 376 for no loss to overhaul Pakistan's impressive tally of 372 for five in 40 overs in Saturday's final.

"It's a great feeling," said Rory Field. "We had lost to Pakistan in the earlier stages of the tournament, so it was a special effort."

Teams from seven elite cricketing nations - England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - took part in the 10-day event, the first international tournament of its kind.

Not all the players were completely blind. Rules allowed teams to field three players who are partially blind (20 percent vision) and four partially sighted (40 percent vision), along with four who are totally blind.

The only concession afforded to the totally blind is that they could take the help of runners while batting. But they were required to bowl at least 16 of the allotted 40 overs.

Batsmen and fielders relied wholly on the noise emanating from pebble-filled plastic balls.

Source :: AFP