India defeat Ireland by 4 runs and clinch series by 2-0
Dublin was a batter's paradise last night as a total of 446 runs were scored throughout 40 overs. As India led the two-match T20I series 1-0, it was expected that they will go out all guns blazing. But Ireland did something that nobody had expected them to do. Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first. India lost Kishan early but courtesy of Hooda and Samson's 176-run stand, India amassed a total of 225 on the board which many felt was a lot for Ireland to achieve.
Paul Stirling joined hands with skipper Andrew Balbirnie and put up a partnership of 72 runs which acted as a strong base for Ireland's chase to take off. Skipper Balbirnie took the onus upon himself and he kept on holding one end. The Irish skipper scored 60 off 37 balls at a strike rate of 162.16.
After Stirling and Balbirnie's wicket fell, the Irish chase was taken care of by a few quick cameos played by Harry Tector and George Dockrell. In the final over the Irish needed 17 runs but it was well defended by Umran Malik who was just playing his second game.
Ireland displayed loads of intent and courage to try and chase down this mammoth of a target, which they almost did, but in the end, they fell short of what was nearly a remarkable chase.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the chase:
Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Conor Olphert
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Umran Malik
