India beat Ireland by seven wickets in rain-shortened match

India beat Ireland by seven wickets in the rain-shortened first T20I of the two-match series at Malahide Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on Sunday.

Harry Tector’s unbeaten 64 guided Ireland to 108/4 in the 12 per side game with revised conditions.

In reply, India achieved the target in 9.2 overs, losing only three wickets.

Deepak Hooda remained not out on 47 (29 balls, 6 fours and 2 sixes), while his opening partner Ishan Kishan (26 off 11 balls) and captain Hardik Pandya (24 off 12 balls) came up with brilliant cameos to keep India in control.

After heavy rain, the T20 game was reduced to 12 per side.

The powerplay was from one to four overs with only three bowlers who can bowl two overs and two bowlers could bowl three overs.

For hosts, Tector starred with the bat as he smashed 64 runs off 33 balls while for visitors Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya and Avesh Khan scalped one wicket apiece.

The Men in Blue enjoyed a blistering start in the match after winning the toss. In the very first over, Bhuvneshwar got the wicket of Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie. It was a good length ball that pitched outside off stump.

Indian skipper Pandya then got the better of Paul Stirling in the second over of the innings. After getting smashed to the boundary, Pandya struck back with the wicket of Stirling. The Irish batter once again tried to go over the infield but he ended up in the hands of Hooda.

After a pretty clean over by Bhuvneshwar, Avesh Khan joined the wicket-taking party in the fourth over. Avesh got the better of Gareth Delany as the Irishman gave the inside edge to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik while trying to drive the ball. At the end of the powerplay, Ireland’s score read 22/3.

Harry Tector smashed two boundaries in the fifth over of Axar Patel. In the very next over, Tector blasted the first maximum of the innings off Umran Malik who was making his debut for India.

Yuzvendra Chahal then gave only four runs in the seventh over of the innings. Lorcan Tucker then took matters into his own hands as he smashed back-to-back sixes off India’s skipper in the 8th over.

In the 9th over, Chahal sent dangerous-looking Tucker back to the pavilion. Tucker moved across the stumps and slogged sweep the ball, which did not have enough distance as the catch was taken at deep mid-wicket by Patel.

The falling of wickets had no impact on Tector as he kept going for his shots. But Chahal again bowled a disciplined over as he gave only four runs in the penultimate over of the innings.

Tector got to his fifty in the last over before smashing a six off Avesh in the same over.

Brief Scores: Ireland 108/4 in 12 overs (Harry Tector 64 not out, Lorcan Tucker 18; Yuzvendra Chahal 1-11) India 111/3 in 9.2 overs (Deepak Hooda 47 not out, Ishan Kishan 26, Hardik Pandya 24, Dinesh Karthik 5 not out; Craig Young 2/28)