India beat Ireland by 7 wickets in the T20I series-opener on Sunday in Dublin.
Ireland 108/4 in 12 overs (Harry Tector 64 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-16, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-11)
India 111/3 in 9.2 overs (Deepak Hooda 47 not out, Ishan Kishan 26, Hardik Pandya 24; Craig Young 2-18)
Riding on an all-round performance, Hardik Pandya’s Indian team have won the T20I series-opener against Ireland at Dublin by 7 wickets.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl first in the rain-curtailed match, that saw the game reduced to 12 overs a side, India managed to restrict the hosts to 108/4 after Harry Tector put up a solid fight, scoring an unbeaten half century, to finish on 64. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/16 in 3 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/11 in 3 overs) were the standout bowlers.
Deepak Hooda, playing ahead of Sanju Samson, opened with Ishan Kishan and carried him bat through the chase as he top-scored with 47. He was part of a 64-run third wicket stand with Hardik Pandya as India eventually got past the finish line with 16 balls to spare.
Earlier, Indian skipper on this tour, Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first.
The conditions were ripe for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to make the ball talk and he did just that in the opening over of the match, castling Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie on the fifth delivery.
Hardik Pandya then delighted many by taking over the bowling duties for the second over. After hitting the first ball over cover, Paul Stirling went for the same shot on the second but mistimed it, to be caught at mid off.
Gareth Delany and Harry Tector then stabilised the innings a bit, scoring 16 runs off 15 deliveries, before Avesh Khan picked up a wicket in his first over as well. Delany was caught-behind by Dinesh Karthik on 8.
Ireland at this point were reduced to 22/3.
India were expected to run through the opposition but Ireland staged a spirited recovery through Tector, who went for the offensive against the Indian pacers, including debutant Umran Malik.
All eyes were on the Indian pace sensation but he had a rather nervous start to his international career. He dragged his third ball down the leg side and it raced to the boundary off Lorcan Tucker's (18 off 16) pads. Two balls, later Tector played a beautiful straight drive off a full delivery. Malik dragged the next one short but Hector was ready to pull it for a six.
The Irish number four then completed his third T20I half-century, in 33 internationals in the format. His innings was laced with six boundaries and three sixes as he single-handedly lifted Ireland from 22/3 and helped them get past the 100-mark.
Lorcan Tucker was the second-highest of the innings, making 18 off 16.
India's Chase
India were always ahead of the run rate in the chase and with contributions from Ishan Kishan (26 off 11), Deepak Hooda (47 not out off 29) and skipper Hardik Pandya (24 off 12), cruised to victory in 9.2 overs.
Kishan continued his good form to get India off to a quick start. The first over of the innings went for 15 runs as Kishan collected couple of fours and a six off Joshua Little.
In a rather surprising move, Deepak Hooda came to open alongside Kishan in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad. He found his rhythm after a scratchy start and put up a match winning 64-run stand with Hardik.
Just when it seemed Indian were running away with the contest, Craig Young got rid of Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav (0) in successive deliveries to raise hopes for his team. Kishan's stumps were rattled in another attempt to get a full ball out of the park.
Returning to the side after an injury break, Suryakumar got a beauty first up that seamed back to trap him in front of the stumps.
However, Hardik and Hooda kept going for their strokes and a 21-run over from Andy Mcbrine put India back in control.
While Hardik departed after hitting three sixes, Hooda stayed till the end to hit the winning four. His innings comprised two sixes and half a dozen boundaries.
(With inputs from PTI)
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