India launched their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in style with a commanding 8-wicket victory over Ireland on Wednesday, 6 June, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Chasing a modest target of 97, the men in blue secured the win in just 12.2 overs.
Virat Fell Early
India's chase began with openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the crease. The Indian skipper had a stroke of luck on the last ball of the first over bowled by Mark Adair, as a catch went past Andrew Balbirnie at slips and raced to the boundary. In the second over, Rohit Sharma struck a six and a boundary off Joshua Little.
Adair returned in the third over to claim the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli, who was caught by Benjamin White after managing just a single run off five balls.
Rishabh Pant, playing his first match for India in 18 months, joined Rohit Sharma at the crease. Pant got off to the mark with a boundary on the second ball he faced. In the 6th over, Rohit also found the boundary. After a quiet 7th over, Pant added another boundary in the 8th.
Rohit's Half-Century
Rohit scored a fifty before retiring hurt.
Image: PTI
Rohit then showcased his power in the 9th over, hitting Joshua Little for back-to-back sixes immediately after surviving a dismissal review. In the 10th over, the captain reached his half-century off 36 balls with a boundary.
However, on the final delivery of the over, Rohit was struck on the arm and retired hurt. Before his departure, Rohit had built a steady partnership with Pant, adding 54 runs off 44 balls.
The Winning Six by Pant
As 21 runs were required, Suryakumar Yadav joined Pant in the middle. Pant slammed a six in the 11th over, narrowing the target to 14 runs. With 12 needed, Pant struck another boundary. However, a ball later, Suryakumar (2 runs off 4 balls) lost his wicket while aiming for a big shot off a Benjamin White delivery.
With just 6 runs needed off 50 balls, Shivam Dube took to the crease. Pant then sealed a comfortable win for his side by hitting a six, concluding the match in just 12.2 overs.
Pant scored 36* off26 balls.
Image: PTI
Hardik's 1st Innings Masterclass
Earlier, Hardik Pandya picked 3-27 to be the standout bowler in India’s dominating performance with the ball as they bowled out Ireland for just 96.
Apart from Hardik, who thrived in helpful bowling conditions, Arshdeep Singh was superb in his first spell to give India the early edge. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel were solid in their bowling spells to bowl out Ireland just four runs short of 100.
For Ireland, Gareth Delany top-scored with 26 and was involved in partnerships of 27 and 19 for the tenth and eleventh wickets respectively in a miserable performance on a tough batting pitch, something which will lead to more questions being raised about surfaces at New York.
Arshdeep's Efforts
With prodigious seam and swing along with variable bounce on offer under overcast conditions, India wasted no time in running through the Ireland batting line-up. Arshdeep got extra bounce on a length ball to extract a top edge from a slog by Ireland skipper Paul Stirling and it landed safely in Rishabh Pant's gloves.
Arshdeep Singh claimed 2 wickets in 4 overs.
Image: PTI
Arshdeep beat both Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker in his next over, and the pacer ended the former’s stay by beating his outside edge to crash into the off-stump. With Arshdeep getting extra bounce consistently and Jasprit Bumrah getting the ball to jag both ways, things became more dire for Ireland.
Tucker went for a big booming drive off Hardik Pandya but was castled through the gate by a fuller delivery. Bumrah joined the wicket-taking party when Harry Tector’s top edge on a pull was caught by a short extra cover.
Last Nail in the Coffin
Wickets continued to tumble for Ireland as Pandya had Curtis Campher nicking behind to Pant and got Mark Adair to toe-end a cut to deep point running in, while Mohammed Siraj got George Dockrell to give a top-edge to mid-on and Axar Patel took a brilliant catch off his own bowling to see Barry McCarthy’s back quickly.
Jasprit Bumrah gave away just 6 runs ion his three overs and scalped 2 crucial wickets.
Image: PTI
Joshua Little and Gareth Delany had a 27-run partnership off 18 balls for the ninth wicket, including hitting three boundaries, which got the side to go past the 68-run mark, which is their lowest T20I total.
Bumrah ended the partnership by clattering the base of Little’s stumps with a 145kmph yorker. Delany hit Arshdeep for two fours and a six before he was run out for 14-ball 26 as India ended Ireland’s chaotic innings.
With inputs from IANS.
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