The Indian team managed to breeze past Ireland in their opening game of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a win by 8 wickets and 46 balls to spare at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. But the Men in Blue could be dented as their skipper Rohit Sharma had walked off after scoring a fine fifty against the Irish after being struck on the shoulder.
India who went for a four-man pace attack with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and all-rounder Hardik Pandya along with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel turned out to be overkill as the pace-unit by itself managed to share a total of 8 wickets between themselves.
Hardik was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/27 in his four overs while Arshdeep and Bumrah took two each to blitz past the Ireland batting unit, getting them all out for just 96/10 in 16 overs.
Arshdeep set the tone in the powerplay with two quick wickets while Hardik took charge after the first six overs leaving no room to breathe for the Irish batters. Axar Patel had a fine moment with the ball as well where he took a brilliant catch of his bowling to get rid of Barry McCarthy in the middle stages of the innings.
Ireland by their admission, were unfamiliar with the conditions in New York and it showed. However, India took advantage of the conditions having played their warm-up game in New York.
One of the big questions that was looming around the Indian team was the position of Virat Kohli and it was answered as he walked out with Rohit Sharma to open the innings. However, his time in the middle was short as he got out playing an aggressive shot in unfamiliar conditions
Rohit Sharma took the more passive approach in his batting and was biding his time and looking to see out the new ball. Considering the bowling-friendly conditions that were on offer, it turned out to be the right call as he went on to score a fine fifty. But the warning bells went off as the skipper was forced to walk out after he was struck on the shoulder. After a chat with the physio, he walked out of the field sparking concerns.
Rishabh Pant also struggled after being struck with the ball a couple of times on his arm and fingers but managed to power through as he finished off the chase in style with a reverse scoop behind the keeper for a six.
Brief Scores:
Ireland 96/10 in 16 Overs (Gareth Delany 26; Hardik Pandya 3/27)
India 97/2 in 12.2 Overs (Rohit Sharma 52; Benjamin White 1/6)
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