Team India overcame a scare and managed to beat Ireland by 4 runs to win the series 2-0 at The Village, Dublin. In a thrilling second and final T20I, over 400 runs were scored in the 40 overs and in the end, Hardik Pandya and Co. somehow managed to stop Ireland at 221/5 in 20 overs while defending the 226-run target. Pace sensation Umran Malik was asked to defend 17 runs from the last over and he did extremely well to get the job done for the team in his second T20I. With the win, India stretched their unbeaten streak over Ireland in the shortest format of the game.
Deepak Hooda was the standout performer for India as the 27-year-old slammed his maiden T20I century to help them post a formidable total of 225/7. The 27-year-old shared the massive 176-run stand for the second wicket with Sanju Samson who also left a big impression with a 77-run knock on his comeback to the Indian side. The duo didn’t let the Irish bowlers settle in the middle and shared the highest partnership for India in T20Is.
Hooda scored 104 runs off 55 balls which was laced with 9 fours and 6 sixes as he made a strong case for himself for the upcoming T20 World Cup squad.
Once Hooda departed at the team score of 212, Surya Kumar Yadav (15) and skipper Hardik Pandya (13 not out) tried to accelerate the scoring but failed as India lost three wickets for the addition of just 14 runs in the last two overs.
Ireland started the chase with a counter-attacking approach as veteran Paul Stirling slammed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 18 runs in his first over. He played a sensational knock of 40 runs in 18 balls to provide Ireland with the perfect platform for a mammoth chase. However, Ravi Bishnoi got the better of him on the last over of powerplay to break the 72-run opening stand.
However, skipper Andrew Balbirnie took over the charge from there as he batted with an aggressive approach to put the Indian bowlers on the backfoot. He scored 60 runs off 37 balls to keep Ireland alive in the game and he even managed to pull them ahead. He was dismissed by Harshal Patel but it didn’t hold the hosts back and they continue to attack the Indian bowlers.
Harry Tector, who made headlines with his 64*-run knock, once again impressed many by scoring 39 runs in the series decider. However, the 18th over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar completely shifted the momentum in India’s way. The veteran pacer got the better of Tector on the first ball of the over and gave just 7 runs from that over.
Harshal, who had a disappointing game, gave 14 runs from the penultimate over as Ireland needed 17 from the last over. Umran got hit for a couple of boundaries including a no-ball, but in the end, he held his nerves as India won the match by 4 runs.
