India recorded a narrow two-run win on the DLS method over Ireland in the first T20I match on Friday, August 18. Captian Jasprit Bumrah made a sensational comeback on his return from injury to restrict the hosts to just 139 runs but rain interrupted the game while India were batting at 47 for 2 in 6.5 overs.
Prasidh Krishna also made a sensational impact on his T20I debut with two wickets but another debutant Rinku Singh didn't get a chance to bat due to rain. Ireland pulled off a fighting total after an early struggle against the Indian pace attack. Barry McCarthy smashed an unbeaten fifty but it was in vain as India walked away the game with a two-run win.
Bumrah won the toss on his debut match as a T20I captain and elected to bowl first at Dublin's The Village. He made an instant impact on his comeback with two early wickets on the innings' first over to stun the home crowd.
Irish batters struggled to find ground against India's pace attack in powerplay overs. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi also made an impact with two wickets as India seemed in a comfortable position to deny their opponents below 100 runs total.
But the star all-rounder Barry McCarthy, batting at no.8, and Curtis Campher added 57 runs for the seventh wickets to boost Ireland to a respectable total. Campher scored 33 runs while McCarthy smashed 51* off just 33 with the help of four fours and four sixes. Bumrah, Prasidh and Bishnoi took two wickets each while Arshdeep Singh clinched one for India.
India enjoyed a promising start with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad adding 46 runs for the first wicket. India avoided losing any wickets in powerplay overs but Craig Young took two wickets on back-to-back deliveries in the seventh over to create some balance. But the heavy rain stopped the game and the officials called it off after some time with India winning on DLS by two runs.
Ireland Playing XI: Paul Stirling (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Benjamin White
India Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ravi Bishnoi
