OdishaLIVE Bureau
Ireland hosted India in the first T20 match of the two-match series and were defeated by India by a huge margin. The match was held at The Village, Dublin.
- India demolish Ireland after winning by a mammoth 76 runs
- Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan star in a brilliant batting display
- Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal crush the Irish batting order
Ireland win Toss
Ireland won the toss and Captain Gary Wilson decided to bowl first. India made some surprising changes in the team. Both, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul were dropped who had been going through a great form. As per Ireland the experienced and former Captain William Porterfield was dropped and fast bowler Joshua Little was not picked as well.
India cruising
India were off to a blistering start with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan smashing bowlers from the very beginning. India made good use of the powerplay and scored 59 runs for the loss of no wicket. Dhawan made his fifty in just 27 balls and soon Rohit got his 50, as well. The pair went on further to post India’s total to 150 by the 15th over.
Dhawan scores 74, Rohit misses Ton
Dhawan got out early, scoring 74 runs out of 45 balls while Rohit continued to smash the ball. Rohit ran out luck at a very delicate stage of the match when he just needed 3 runs to score his 3rd T20 century and was sent to the pavilion at 97. India shuffled its middle order in the match, sending Suresh Raina at No.3 and the skipper Virat Kohli coming at No.6. This was for the first time that Kohli batted at No.6 in his career. Although Raina, Kohli and Dhoni soon perished India still managed to post a mammoth total of 208. The Irish bowlers had a day to forget with 4 bowlers having an economy of more than 10 an over. The only shining ray of light in the Irish bowling was Peter Chase who gave away 35 runs in 4 overs and took 4 wickets.
Ireland start Poorly
Ireland were not off to a great start as their explosive opening batsmen Paul Stirling got out at just 1 run and his wicket was taken by Indian pacer JaspritBumrah and their hopes of chasing the target down took a major blow. After he got out the Irish batting order collapsed with only 4 batsmen getting to double figures. The only ray of hope in the Irish Batting order was James Shannon who scored the joint fastest 50 by and Irish player against a full member International team. He made 60 runs out of 35 balls at a strike rate of over 150.
Spinners take opposition Apart
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal absolutely took apart the Irish batting order. The spinning duo took up 7 wickets among themselves. Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 wickets in 4 overs and gave away 38 runs while Kuldeep Yadav took 4 wickets and gave away just 21 runs in 4 overs. This was his best ever bowling performance in a T20 game. Ireland posted a mere total of 132 after 20 overs and India won the game comprehensively.
Skipper, Virat Kohli would be happy going into the next match with both his Batting and Bowling unit performing well although Ireland must not be taken lightly and might have something under their belt. India take on Ireland in the last match of the T20 series which is going to be played at the same venue. Kohli and company will be looking to win the series by winning this match while Ireland will do everything in their hand to draw this series.
(Story: Raunaq Dash, Edit: Sriram Singh Rattan)
