NEW YORK - A ferocious display of pace bowling, followed by captain Rohit Sharma’s half-century helped India register a dominant victory over Ireland in the eighth match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Wednesday.
Chasing a small total of 97 runs, India achieved the target in 12.2 overs after losing two wickets, at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.They had a shaky start to the chase as Virat Kohli (1) fell in the third over with 22 runs on the board. However, captain Rohit Sharma, along with Rishabh Pant, dominated Ireland bowlers with a steady 54-run stand in 44 balls.
Sharma scored the bulk of runs, completing his half-century in the process before getting retired hurt. He scored 52 off 37 with the help of four boundaries and three sixes.Suryakumar Yadav (2) replaced Sharma on the crease but soon fell prey to Ben White with India needing six runs to win.
Pant then finished the game in style with a six off Barry McCarthy in the 13th over. The left-hander scored an unbeaten 36 off 26, featuring five boundaries that included two sixes.Meanwhile, Mark Adair and White claimed one wicket each for Ireland.
Earlier, India invited Ireland to bat after winning the toss and Arshdeep Singh struck twice in the third over with only nine runs on the board.Lorcan Tucker (10) and Harry Tector (4) showed some resistance with a 19-run partnership from 23 balls before Indian bowlers rattled through the Irish batting line-up.
Ireland lost six wickets in quick succession, slipping from 27-2 to 50-8, losing six wickets.Gareth Delany and Josh Little (14) then raised a partnership of 27 off 18 to delay the eventual disaster.Jasprit Bumrah removed Little to break the Irish momentum before Delany added another 19-run partnership for the last wicket with Ben White (2*).
Delany got run out after scoring 26 runs from 14 balls, featuring two sixes and two fours, as Ireland’s innings wrapped up in 16 overs. For India, Hardik Pandya claimed 3-27, while Bumrah and Singh bagged two wickets each.
Scores in Brief
INDIA 97-2 (Rohit 52, Pant 36*) beat IRELAND 96 (Delany 26, Hardik 3-27, Bumrah 2-6) by 8 wickets.
