Ireland vs India, 1st T20I Live: Chahal, Kuldeep spin hosts in a bind as visitors win by 76 runs
The games will mark the onset of a long summer for the Indian team, with sterner tests against England to follow after this short two-match series in Malahide.
Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni, who were rested for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka in March make their India return in the shortest format.
Ireland’s 31-year-old Punjab-born off-spinner Simranjit Singh will enjoy the spotlight of playing against his erstwhile nation.
“In the next games, we will play the guys who din’t play today. We’re going to give everyone a go in this series. The management and me as captain decided it.” – India captain Virat Kohli
“Whenever we bowl, me and Chahal talk a lot. Chahal bowled first and said the wicket was slow and asked me to bowl a bit quicker.” – India spinner Kuldeep Yadav
“World-class side, aren’t they? The two lads had a big opening stand. I did not expect it to spin like it did in the second innings.” – Ireland captain Wilson
“This is a good experience and this is my first tour of England Ireland. I had to mix my variations.” – India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
India win by 76 runs.
Ireland finish on 132/9 in 20 overs in chase of India’s total of 208/5. Kuldeep Yadav was pick of the Indian bowlers with four wickets. His partnership with Chahal once again proved fruitful as the Irish batsmen struggled to read the two wrist-spinners. The imposing target of 209 set up by fine knocks by Dhawan and Rohit was never going to be easy to surpass, but India ensured there were no hiccups with a clinical bowling performance.
Injury worry for Bumrah, who was hit on the thumb while trying to collect the ball off the final delivery of the match. There’s still no clarity over the seriousness of the injury.
After 19 overs, IRE 129/9.
WICKET! Bumrah strikes as Ireland lose their ninth. Dockrell makes space to play the ball through the off side but misses it and is bowled. India a wicket away from victory.
WICKET! Kuldeep gets his fourth as Poynter is bowled. India now two wickets away from victory. Kuldeep finishes with figures of 4-1-21-4.
WICKET! Thompson holes out for 12. Kuldeep gets his third. India three wickets away from victory.
After 14 overs, IRE 104/6 (Poynter 1*, Thompson 6*)
100 up for Ireland! They are six down though and need a miracle from here to win this game. The spin of Kuldeep and Chahal has proved too much for the hosts to fend off.
WICKET! Two in two for Chahal! Wilson is stumped for five. The batsman comes down the track but is beaten by the leg-spin.
IRE 96/5 after 12.3 overs.
WICKET! O’Brien gone! He holes out off Chahal for 5. Dhawan completes an easy catch in the deep.
After 12 overs, IRE 88/4
WICKET! Shannon departs for a well-made 60. Kuldeep traps him in front as he looks for a sweep. The batsman was keeping the hosts in the game, but his departure might rupture their hopes. In walks Kevin O’Brien.
After 11 overs, IRE 83/3
Shannon smashes Chahal for a six off the first delivery of his new over. The bowler keeps it tight thereafter. They need another 126 runs from 54 balls.
After 10 overs, IRE 72/3 (Shannon 51*, Wilson 0*)
WICKET! Simi gone for 7. Gets a leading edge off Kuldeep and is caught by Kohli at short cover. The spinners are taking a hold of the game. Shannon the only one standing strong.
After 9 overs, IRE 72/2 (Shannon 51*, Simi 7*)
50 up for Shannon! He’s single-handedly keeping Ireland’s chase alive. The team will want him to carry on till the end. He’s done well against he pacers. The test will be for him to keep the spinners at bay.
After 7 overs, IRE 52/2 (Shannon 37*, Simi 1*).
50 up for Ireland. Shannon is hanging in there keeping the scorecard ticking. But, they have a long way to go in this chase.
After 6 overs, IRE 52/2
WICKET! Chahal strikes in his first over. Balbirnie is stumped on 11. The batsman looks to hit inside out, but the bowlers pitches it just outside off to get the ball past the edge.
IRE 43/1 after 6 overs (Shannon 30*, Balbirnie 10*)
After several dropped chances in the India innings, the visitors have obliged the Ireland with a couple of drops in their chase. The bowlers, though, bowled well to start off.
After 4 overs, IRE 23/1
DROPPED! Rohit’s turn now. Another skier from Shannon off Bumrah. Rohit struggles to judge this. He gets his finger tips to the ball, but floors it.
After 3 overs, IRE 16/1.
Misjudged! Chahal this time. Shannon skies one of Bhuvi who changes the pace at the last moment. The fielder called it early but did not get himself under the ball in time.
After 2 overs, IRE 13/1
WICKET! Stirling gets a top edge off Bumrah. Kuldeep completes an easy catch at mid-on. India’s bowlers have been all over the batsmen early on. The Irish batsmen are getting tempted into false plenty of false shots. Luckily enough they get a few streaky boundaries off the final two balls of Bumrah’s first over.
After 1 overs, IRE 4/0
DROPPED! Shannon gets a reprieve off Bhuvi. Hardik spills it at mid-off. The batsman gets a leading edge. The fielder, running backwards, can’t quite clutch it.
India 208/5 in 20 overs.
Hardik gets a streaky boundary off the final delivery. Chase finishes with figures of 4-0-35-4, three of which came in the final over. Despite a late flurry of wickets, India managed to get to a big score. They could have had a few more, but they will be quite pleased with what they have. The boundaries are quite short in this ground, and Ireland will be aiming for them.
WICKET Kohli holes out for a duck! Chase doesn’t get a hat-trick but he does get the big wicket of the India skipper. He now has now picked up four wickets.
WICKET! Rohit bowled! Chase gets two in two. The batsman missed out on a ton. He departs for 97.
WICKET! Dhoni holes out off Chase. Thompson takes the catch in the deep. He departs for 11.
After 19 overs, IND 201/2 (Rohit 97*, Dhoni 11*)
200 up for India! Dhoni gets them there with a huge six straight down the ground!
After 18 overs, IND 187/2 (Rohit 94*, Dhoni 0*)
WICKET! Raina gone for 10. He holes out looking to make stretch India’s total to beyond 200. Chase gets a wicket. Rohit, meanwhile, is six runs away from his century.
After 16 overs, IND 160/1
WICKET! Dhawan gone for 74. Thompson makes up for his earlier drop and manages to hold on this time around. O’Brien finally gets his side the breakthrough. Raina joins Rohit in the middle.
After 15.5 overs, IND 160/0 (Dhawan 74*, Rohit 80*)
DROPPED Again! Rohit gets a reprieve again. The batsman looks to slog sweep, but is deceived by a slower one. The ball though lands just out of Thompson’s reach.
After 15 overs, IND 148/0 (Dhawan 69*, Rohit 73*)
DROPPED! Rohit gets a reprieve! The batsman tries to go inside out and skies it. The fielder makes a meal of it in the deep.
After 11 overs, IND 106/0 (Dhawan 55*, Rohit 46*)
50 up for Dhawan in just 27 deliveries. India have also reached the 100-run mark. The openers have hardly broken a sweat so far.
After 8 overs, IND 77/0 (Dhawan 37*, Rohit 35*)
Rohit welcomes off-spinner Simi Singh into the attack with a six. Dhawan to edges one later in the over, but it lands in no man’s land.
After 6 overs, IND 59/0 (Rohit 24*, Dhawan 30*).
Ireland have their first real shot. Dhawan is tempted into a false shot by Chase. It balloons up high but lands safely. The batsman comes back strongly and smashes the next ball for a six.
After 5 overs, IND 50/0 (Rohit 23*, Dhawan 22*).
The openers getting at least a couple of boundaries in nearly every over. The bowlers have sprayed it all over. Dhawan, Rohit have made most of the easy opportunities.
After 4 overs, IND 37/0 (Rohit 17*, Dhawan 15*).
Now Rohit gets into the act. Smashes Rankin for two boundaries. India off to a bright start. Ireland pacers have been guilty of bowling a bit too full the batsmen are making most of the easy opportunities.
After 3 overs, IND 28/0 (Rohit 8*, Dhawan 15*).
Dhawan starts off with two boundaries and a huge six! The batsman has seen enough of the bowlers it appears. Lays into Thompson in the third over. FYI: Ireland chose to bowl first.
After 2 overs, IND 11/0 (Rohit 7*, Dhawan 0*).
Rohit gets his arms swinging. India have a boundary off a leg bye and an inside edge. The wicket is slightly on the slower side. Rohit doesn’t time it well but is getting there.
After 1 overs, IND 1/0.
Pacer Rankin keeps it tight. He’s back by some sharp fielding. Dhawan and Rohit look settled but the boundaries weren’t easy to come by first up.
India’s Dhawan, Rohit open the batting. Rankin bowls the first over for Ireland.
No Rahul, Dinesh Karthik or Umesh Yadav in the XI.
India XI: Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli, Raina, Dhoni, Pandey, Hardik, Bhuvi, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Chahal.
Ireland XI: Wilson, Stirling, James, Balbirnie, Simi, Stuart, KOB, Thompson, Dockwell, Chase, Rankin
“We would have bowled first as well. But, the sun is out and the wicket will play well. Not a bad thing,” says India skipper Virat Kohli.
Ireland have won the toss and will bowl first.
Pitch expected to be flat. The sun’s beating down. Short boundaries at the The Village in Malahide should make scoring even easier.
Team news: Young spinner Washington Sundar hobbled off the field within India’s first hour of training on Tuesday at The Village in Malahide. He participated in the warm-up football game, as well as the fielding drills for a little time, though the cause of his injury is unclear. The worry is regarding his right ankle, as he needed help from two support staff members to get off the field.
It’s the dress rehearsal before the actual test but India will want to hit the ground running against Ireland in a two-match T20I rubber, starting on Wednesday.
The games will mark the onset of a long summer for the Indian team, with sterner tests against England to follow after this short series in Malahide on the outskirts of Dublin. England have just hammered Australia 5-0 in a one-day series with most of their top players in sublime form.
Perhaps it was a marker of this crucial impending assignment that India decided to stay on and practice in London on Monday.
Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni, who were rested for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka in March make their India return in the shortest format.
For Ireland, skipper Gary Wilson, former captain William Porterfield and all-rounder Kevin O’Brien are the ones to have T20 experience against an Indian team. Meanwhile, 31-year-old Punjab-born off-spinner Simranjit Singh will enjoy the spotlight of playing against his erstwhile nation.