Hardik leads; India beat Ireland

India made three changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Harshal made way for Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav and Twenty20 International debutant Umran Malik.

Ireland made eight changes to their playing eleven – James Shannon, William Porterfield, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Stuart Thompson, Boyd Rankin and Peter Chase made way for Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Mark Adar, Andy McBrine, Craig Young, Josh Little and Twenty20 International debutant Conor Olphert.

On winning the toss, Hardik Pandya, India’s skipper, chose to field.

It rained before the start of Ireland’s innings, therefore the ground was wet.

As a result, the match was reduced to a 12-overs-a-side match.

The first Powerplay of Ireland’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was the first and the fourth over. They scored 22, and lost three wickets.

Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s skipper, faced a couple of balls, failing to get off the (Ku)mark. Five balls into the match, Bhuvneshwar broke the one-run stand.

An over into the match, India sought a bowling review. Delany was the batsman. It was struck down by Irish umpire Mark Hawthorne.

Paul Stirling, who faced five balls, scored four. His runs came by way of a boundary. Three balls after Balbirnie’s dismissal, he was caught by Hooda. Hardik broke the five-run stand.

Delany, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. Fifteen balls later, he was caught by Dinesh Karthik. Avesh Khan broke the 16-run stand.

Ireland scored 50 off half-a-dozen overs (36 balls). India had conceded eight extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 28 balls. While Tector’s contribution to the partnership was 26, Tucker’s contribution to it was 18. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was half-a-dozen.

Tucker, whose 16-ball innings included a couple of sixes, didn’t add to the aforementioned score. Twenty-nine balls after Delany’s dismissal, he was caught by Axar Patel. Yuzvendra Chahal, the player of the match, broke the 50-run partnership.

Tector’s half-century – which included five boundaries and a couple of sixes – came off 29 balls.

Ireland scored 100 off 11.4 overs (70 balls). India had conceded 10 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Tector, whose 33-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and three sixes, eventually scored 64. He was unbeaten, as was George Dockrell, who had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored four.

Ireland scored 108 for the loss of four wickets off a dozen overs.

Malik and Axar bowled a wicketless over apiece. While the former conceded 14, the latter conceded a dozen.

Hardik and Avesh bowled a couple of overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 26, the latter conceded 22.

Bhuvneshwar and Chahal bowled three overs each, picking up a scalp apiece. While the former, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 16, the latter conceded 11.

The first Powerplay of India’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was the first and the fourth over. They scored 45, and lost a couple of wickets.

Ishan Kishan, whose 11-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 26. Seventeen balls into the chase, Young broke the 30-run stand.

Eighteen balls (2.5 overs) into the chase, India sought a batting review. Suryakumar, the batsman, faced a ball, failing to open his account. It was struck down by Hawthorne. He was trapped leg before wicket by Young. The second-wicket pair hadn’t got off the mark.

India scored 50 off 5.1 overs (32 balls). Ireland had conceded five extras at that point.

The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 28 balls. While Hooda’s contribution to the partnership was 30, Hardik’s contribution to it was 18. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was four.

Eight overs (49 balls) into the chase, India sought a batting review. Hardik, the batsman, scored 24 off a dozen balls, which included a boundary and three sixes. It was struck down by Irish umpire Paul Reynolds. He was trapped leg before wicket by Little, who broke the 64-run partnership.

India scored 100 off nine overs (55 balls). Ireland had conceded nine extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Hooda, whose 29-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 47. He was unbeaten, as was Karthik, who scored five. His four-ball innings included a boundary.

India, who scored 111 for the loss of three wickets off 9.2 overs, won by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare.

McBrine, who bowled an over, conceded 21. He was unbeaten, as were Olphert and Adair, who bowled a couple of overs apiece. While the former conceded 18, the latter conceded 14.

Little, who bowled 2.2 overs, conceded 39. He picked up a wicket.

Young, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded 18. He picked up two scalps.

India led the two-match series 1-0.