ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: India defeated New Zealand by a massive margin of 276 runs in the inaugural match of the third Blind World Cup cricket tournament here at the F-9 Park on Wednesday.

The tournament finally got underway on Wednesday after the fixtures on the first two days were washed out.

Batting first, India scored 329-4 off 18 overs and then restricted New Zealand to 53-2. Rajinder Varma (150), later named man of the match, and Shekhar Nike (103), were the top Indian scorers.

The chief guest Lt Gen (retd) Kamal Akber gave away the prizes to the players.

In the second match of the day played at the PAF Ground, England overwhelmed Australia by five wickets.

Batting first, Australia scored 164-5 off 17 overs. In response, England successfully achieved the target in the last over while losing five wickets.

Christenson and Hyder of Australia made 45 runs each while the English batsman Tim Gettridge scored 54 and was declared the man of the match.

Country Manager Muslim Hands International, Ziauddin Noor distributed the prizes among the players.

The soaking ground prevented the West Indies and Sri Lanka to play their scheduled match and both the teams were thus given two points each.

Pakistan would play their first match of the tournament against Australia on Thursday (today) while the other two matches will be played between Sri Lanka and England and the West Indies and New Zealand.

MATCHES RESCHEDULED: Heavy rains forced the organisers of the third Blind World Cup cricket tournament to reschedule Tuesday’s washed out fixtures for Wednesday.