Belfast: Shreyas Iyer’s debut as Indian T20I captain ended in defeat as Ireland secured its first victory over India in any format by 34 runs at the Civi Services County Ground in Belfast on June 26.
Led by battling knocks from skipper Lorcan Tucker (50) and Gareth Delany (49), Ireland recovered from 30/3 inside the PowerPlay to post a competitive 182 for nine in its 20 overs.
In the chase, none of the Indian batters except for Abhishek Sharma — who scored 49 from 20 balls — found any rhythm as it collapsed to 148 all out. Debutants Matt Hollard (three for 28) and Jai Moondra (two for 25) were the pick of the bowling.
Coming to bat first after India won the toss, Ireland made an aggressive start. Tim Tector wasted little time in getting going, smashing Arshdeep Singh for a six over square leg as Ireland collected 10 runs from the opening over.
Ross Adair then continued the attacking approach in the second over, driving Harshit Rana for two boundaries. However, Rana provided India with the breakthrough on the final delivery of the over when Adair edged behind to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson after a brisk 12 off just seven balls.
India struck again immediately as Arshdeep dismissed the in-form Harry Tector in the following over. The right-hander edged a delivery through to Samson without troubling the scorers significantly, leaving Ireland under early pressure. Tim Tector attempted to keep the scoreboard moving with a couple of attractive strokes, but Rana deceived him with a well-disguised slower delivery. The opener departed for 17 from 12 balls, reducing Ireland to 32/3.
Ireland found much-needed stability through skipper Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany. The pair steadily regained control before Tucker accelerated in style, collecting 16 runs from Axar Patel's 13th over to take Ireland past the 100-run mark.
Brief scores: Ireland 182/9 in 20 overs (Locran Tucker 50, Gerath Delany 49, George Dockrell 19; Harshit Rana 3-24, Arshdeep Singh 2-28, Axar Patel 2-33) beat India 148/10 in 18.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 49, Tilak Verma 19, Shivam Dube 25, Matthew Holland 3/28). Agencies
Also Read: World Cup: Turkiye edge USA in thriller to end campaign on a high