After blockbuster knocks from Indian openers, spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal spun their web around the Irish batsmen as India thumped the hosts by a mammoth 76-run margin in the first T20I in Dublin. The whole Ireland batting line-up collapsed as both Chahal and Kuldeep shared seven wickets amongst them. Kuldeep’s 4 for 21 in the match is now his best ever performance in the format. Chahal too picked up 3 for 38 in his four overs. Chasing a huge total of 209, Ireland never looked comfortable against brilliant Indian bowling line-up. Jasprit Bumrah drew the first blood picking up Paul Sterling in the second over of the game. Post the power-play overs, Virat brought on spinners and they worked their magic to perfection. The spin duo crushed the entire Irish middle-order picking wickets at regular intervals. The host team collapsed like a pack of cards. Only James Shannon’s 60 off 35 balls was the positive for the Irish team as no other batsman was able to go past the score of 15. In the end Ireland could only muster 132 for 9 in 20 overs falling short by 76 runs.
Earlier, riding on a 160-run stand between openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, India posted a target of 209 in 20 overs. Both Shikhar and Rohit pounced on the Irish bowlers from the word go. Both the openers clobbered the bowlers all-around the park dealing in boundaries and sixes. After power-play overs, India were 59 without loss. Continuing the fine form, Dhawan reached his fifty in 27 balls. Following Dhawan, Rohit Sharma too slammed his 15th T20I fifty. Sharma then continued whacking the ball all-around before getting out on 97. Although India lost Raina, Dhoni and Virat in the same over but reached 208 in their designated quota of 20 overs. Peter Chase was the most successful bowler for Ireland picking up 4 wickets for 35 runs.
