Hardik Pandya-led Indian team defeated Ireland by seven wickets in the first T20i match of the two-match series in Ireland on Sunday.
Earlier, India had won the toss and decided to bowl first before rain delayed the match by around two hours and 20 minutes. As the rain took a rest, the match was resumed with a slashing of total overs in the match to 12 overs a side.
Coming to bat first, Ireland batsman Harry Tector helped the team to mark a 100-plus score on the scoreboard with the help of his unbeaten 33-ball 65 runs, including six boundaries and three maximums. This was after Ireland’s innings were struggling at 22 runs with a loss of three wickets and before rain delayed the match.
After the match resumed, the Indian side went on to chase the 109 runs target in 9.2 overs by marking 111 runs with a loss of three wickets-score on the scoreboard. Opening batsmen Deepak Hooda played an unbeaten 47-runs innings off 29 balls and Ishan Kishan scored 26 runs in 11 balls before losing his wicket to Craig Young. Soon after Kishan got dismissed, Surya Kumar Yadav was too sent back before getting to open his account. Hardik Pandya then came to the crease and contributed 24 runs in 12 balls before falling prey to Joshua Little.
The match was concluded with Deepak Hooda (47) and Dinesh Kartik (5) playing on the crease and the scoreboard reading 111 runs for the Indian side in 9.2 overs.
Talking about bowling department, the Indian side stood out by the ace performance of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal, who too one wicket each their respective 3 overs and gave away 16 runs and 11 runs respectively.
Scorecard:
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); Craig Young 2/18)].
