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England's Men's and Women's Visually Impaired teams knocked out of the IBSA Word Blind Games

A valiant effort from both England's Visually Impaired sides at the IBSA World Blind Games, but unfortunately neither team was able to progress further in the Birmingham tournament.

England Men VI team 103 lost against Pakistan Men VI team 104/4 by 4 wickets

England Men VI team played their last group game against Pakistan but could not get enough runs on the board and were bowled out inside 18 overs.

Luke Sugg was the stand-out performer, top-scoring with 25. Despite Sugg's efforts, England were restricted to 103. Pakistan’s batters were more successful in finding the boundary and chased down the total inside 10 overs.

The highlight of the day was Moshfique Ahmed making his debut for England and proceeding to take his first wicket in his first over.

Ahmed said: “It means the whole world to me, I’m so emotional that I’ve taken a wicket in my first over, it’s just amazing. When I lost my sight in 2017, I was introduced to blind cricket and now, I can’t believe that I’m here today representing my country.”

England Women VI team 64/4 beaten by India Women VI team 217/5 by 153 runs

England Women VI team lost the toss and were asked to field by the strongest team in the competition. India had previously scored over 250 runs in their last fixture but England showcased their progression as a side, taking more wickets and reducing the opposition's scoring rate.

Quick wickets fell during England’s innings but partnerships began to form to steady the team with Helen Lawson batting through the order and scoring 24 . India demonstrated their class to restrict England to 64 from their 20 overs. 

England’s newest member, Laura Brooks, said: “It was always going to be a tough one and we knew how good India were but we determined to do our best. We’ve just got to get our batting stronger, like how our fielding has improved, and it’s just building on those steps and developing from the games we’ve played.”

Neither England teams were able to qualify for the knockout stages. The finals of the IBSA World Blind Games will be held this weekend at Edgbaston.