India versus Ireland 2nd T20I: India survives scare to win series
The Indian Cricket Team survived a huge scare before defeating the spirited Ireland side in the 2nd T20I match played at Malahide, Dublin on Tuesday.
Indian captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bat
first. Ishan Kishan did not contribute much as he dismissed cheaply. Sanju
Samson opened the innings showed intent right from the word go putting pressure
on the Ireland bowling. Deepak Hooda continued the brilliant form that he
displayed during the first T20I match. It was a brilliant display of batting by
Hooda and Samson keeping the momentum going for India. At the end of the first six
overs, India 54 for 1.
Samson and Hooda displayed power-hitting against the Ireland
spinners not allowing them to settle. Hooda looked at ease completing his
maiden T20I fifty off 27 balls while Samson too reached his first fifty off 31
balls to leave Ireland bowlers under the pump. Both batsmen kept the momentum going
scoring boundaries and sixes with ease. Mark Adair eventually disturbed timber
getting rid of Samson with a brilliant yorker from round the wicket. Samson
and Hooda added 176 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Surya Kumar Yadav also joined with 2 boundaries and 1 six to
keep India’s going. On other hand, Hooda slowed down but completed century off
55 balls. After the fall of Hooda’s wicket, Ireland came back into the match
with a flurry of wickets in the 2 overs as they lost Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, and Harshal Patel. Thanks to brilliant knocks by Hooda and Samson, India posted a mammoth total of 225 for 7 in 20 overs.
Chasing 226 runs to win, Paul Stirling began the innings off a flying start smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 18 runs including 3 boundaries and
1 six. Ireland Andrew Balbirnie put enough pressure on the Indian bowling with
attacking strokes. Ravi Bishnoi got rid of Stirling with a good delivery ending
a quickfire 72 runs opening partnership. At the end of the first six overs, Ireland
raced away to 73 for 1.
A superb direct hit by Hardik Pandya resulted in the wicket
of Gareth Delany to leave Ireland on backfoot. Andrew Balbirnie survived a scare
as he was stumped but Bishnoi overstepped the delivery. After the reprieve,
Ireland's captain kept the pressure on Indian bowling. Umran Malik struggled with his
line and length.
Balbirnie completed fifty off 34 balls while Harry Tector looked
confident from the last match he displayed. Harshal Patel eventually got rid of
Ireland Balbirnie caught by Ravi Bishnoi. Balbirnie and Tector added 44 runs
for the 3rd wicket. Lorcan Tucker was not able to aggressive strokes
that resulted in Ireland’s required run rate climbing.
Tector displayed great hitting to keep Ireland on course for
a famous win. Umran Malik got his maiden international wicket grabbing Tucker’s
wicket providing a simple catch to Chahal at long-on. George Dockrell showed intent
right from the word go putting pressure on the Indian bowlers along with Tector.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a superb 18th over
giving away just 7 runs and grabbing the important wicket of Tector caught by
Deepak Hooda. Tector and Dockrell added 47 runs for the 5th wicket.
Harshal Patel had a disappointing outing with the ball as
Dockrell hit lovely shots. With 17 runs required off the final over, Hardik
Pandya gave over to Umran Malik. Despite being hit for 2 boundaries by Adair,
Malik held his nerves as India won the match by 4 runs.
India 225 for 7 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 104, Samson 77,
Mark Adair 3/42, Craig Young 2/35) beat Ireland 221 for 5 in 20 overs ( Balbirnie
60, Stirling 40, Bishnoi 1/41) by 4 runs.
For his 104 off 57 balls, Deepak Hooda was named the man of
the match award while was named the player of the series for his 151 runs.
With this win, India won the T20I series 2-0. It was a
superb effort by Ireland batters against a top-quality Indian side.
India beat Ireland by 4 runs in a high-scoring thriller
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