India marked victory against Ireland in the second and final T20I by posting a huge score against the host. Deepak Hooda – Sanju Samson partnership led India to score 225 of 7 and the ballers restricted Ireland to 221 for 5 to own the series.
Hardik Pandya led India, won the toss, and decided to bat first to steal the series. Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson kicked off the match, but unlike the first match, Kishan departed for 3. In return, Deepak Hooda smashed his maiden T20I century and scored 104 runs out of 57 balls, and became the player of the series. Great support from Sanju Samson helped Hooda build a wall against Ireland in the ground. Samson who never got an opportunity to play in the first match amazed the audience with his 77 runs out of 41 balls. As Gaikwad was injured, it opened the gates for Sanju to make a comeback in the playing XI. Hooda and Samson have scored the highest partnership for India in T20I and they put together a partnership of 176 runs off 85 deliveries. But Mark Adar broke the partnership between Samson and Hooda by beating Samson on 77.
Suryakumar Yadav again falls easily by 15 runs. Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel failed to open their account in the match. Hardik Pandya returned unbeaten on 15(9) by completing the overs.
In return, Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie walk out to chase the huge score raised by India. Stirling hits the over with three consecutive fours and a six and he builds a strong partnership with Balbirnie in the first few overs. But Ravi Bishnoi cleaned the right-handed batter on 40(18). With 3 fours and 7 sixes, the captain Andrew Balbirnie departed in the middle.
Umran Malik picked his maiden international wicket by dismissing Lorcan Tucker, who was caught on 5. Later, Hector Tucker, the final batter of Ireland was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 39(28). Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, and Umran Malik took a wicket for India. Ireland fought till the last ball by chasing 221 runs but their effort went in vain that, India registered a narrow win of 4 runs. With the win, India pursued the series on 2-0.
The series was actually a precursor for both to prove themselves before the T20 World Cup. India experimented the series with the young guns. Even though the youth performed very well in the series, team Ireland proved that they came a long way at the international level. They tried hard to chase the huge score raised by India and lost it with a small change. Team Ireland will surely be a threat to many in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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