Congradurations on Pakistan

Sharjah: Nathan Foy cracked a brilliant 246 off 119 balls against Pakistan, but his knock failed to prevent England from crashing to a second successive defeat in the three-match One-day series for visually impaired at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan, who had won the first One-day match on Monday by 149 runs, recorded a splendid four-wicket win chasing a mammoth England score of 438 for 3. Incidentally, it was the highest run chase in blind cricket.

Speaking to Gulf News after his third double century of his career, Foy, who is a B1 player with no "light to light perception vision", said: "I would have been happy even if I scored only a duck but if England won the match. It is indeed disappointing that we lost the match."

Foy, soon after arrival in Sharjah for the series, had announced that he will try and score his third double century here. "It is nice to have kept my promise to hit another double century here but I wanted England to win in the process. I dedicate this double century to my loving wife, who provides all support. I also thank God for all the strength and energy bestowed upon me to play such a long innings," added Foy.

"I will share the man of the match award with our wicketkeeper Dan Field, who was my runner throughout the 40 overs and went on to take two catches and produce two run outs," he said.

Record score

Foy bettered his own highest score of 232 runs against Pakistan in a group match in Chennai in the 2002 Blind World Cup. Incidentally, Foy fell 16 runs short of the highest individual score in blind cricket. Masood Jan of Pakistan holds the record with 262 runs.

Syed Sultan Shah, the chairman of the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council expressed his delight over his team's series victory. "All our players put in a fantastic effort to ensure this victory despite chasing a huge total. In the first One-day match too all the players contributed equally towards the success."

Pakistan's Amir Ishfaq and Abdul Razzaq put on 155 runs for the second wicket, which set the tone for the historic chase. Amir Ishfaq hit 120 runs off 51 balls while Abdul Razzaq scored 57 runs. Muhammad Shahbaz chipped in with 50 runs.

Scores

Pakistan bt England by four wickets. England 438 for 3 in 40 overs (Nathan Foy 246, Luke Sugg 90, Matt Dean 54) Pakistan 439 for 6 in 38 overs (Amir Ishfaq 120, Abdul Razzaq 57, Muhammad Shahbaz 50, Mohammad Jameel 59n.o Muhammad Zafar 40n.o).