To cap off an amazing 2-0 series win over the Asian giants—their first-ever bilateral victory over them—Ireland really upped their game when it mattered most to beat India by a single run.
Jai Moondra’s early strikes and disciplined death bowling helped the hosts defend 154/8 at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont on Sunday, despite vice-captain Tilak Varma’s fighting 55 keeping India in the chase.
The bowlers performed admirably as a unit to keep India at bay, while Harry Tector, in his 100th T20I game, anchored the innings with a scratchy but crucial 53. Moondra and Matthew Hollard each grabbed three wickets.
The outcome of the match marked one of Irish cricket’s greatest weekends ever, putting an end to India’s run of 16 consecutive T20I series victories dating back to 2023. The club was missing its five first-choice players and was captained by Lorcan Tucker, who had just been named T20I captain.
However, Ireland demonstrated incredible resolve in both games to protect totals and commemorate a spectacular victory in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. The series defeat was a sobering lesson for India, demonstrating the difficulties of playing outside of IPL-style batting surfaces and their ongoing difficulties against left-arm pace. The middle order collapsed under pressure despite Varma’s opposition, forcing the T20 World Cup winners to accept defeat.
India’s chase got off to a terrible start when Moondra sent back opening batters Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma for first-ball ducks. Samson was trapped lbw and fell for a duck in the same manner as in the first game after missing a flick off Moondra’s skiddy delivery. Abhishek hit Moondra’s short delivery to third man on the fourth ball.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer was 10 runs short of his stumps when Moondra bowled him, further rattling India. But a mix-up led to his run-out for 12, as Ishan Kishan tried to bat with Tilak Varma. Having lost four wickets during the Powerplay for only the 13th occasion in Twenty20 Internationals, India was in serious difficulty at 39/4. But Vice-Captain Varma kept his cool.
He steadied the innings with a 32-run stand with Axar Patel by hitting successive boundaries off Moondra through the leg-side. Even with the asking rate hovering over eight runs per over, the pair made sure India remained in the game despite the rain briefly halting play.
Matthew Hollard snapped the partnership once the game restarted when Axar attempted to guide him, but Lorcan Tucker, who made a fantastic one-handed catch by diving to his left, caught him. Before pulling to deep square leg off Matthew Humphreys, Shivam Dube contributed two fours to the innings’ momentum.
During all of this, Varma waited about before scoring his fifty in 45 balls with India’s first six of the innings by kneeling low to hoist Hollard over deep mid-wicket. Varma’s effort to hit a lofted drive, however, resulted in him mistiming to extra cover on the very next ball, and debutant Suryansh Shedge’s attempt to clear the bigger side of the ground finished in a catch to deep mid-wicket.
However, Rana had a different plan; he slammed Moondra through point for four before muscling him over long-on for six. In the final over, Rana was able to get a boundary on the free hit by fending off the keeper, leaving 20 runs needed.
Even if Tector had two wides, he ended up laughing last when he had Rana caught at long-on. Even though Prince Yadav scored a six on the final ball, it wasn’t enough to prevent Ireland from winning.
Ireland seemed to score 180 before, especially since Ben Calitz (37) and Tector had a 65-run partnership. Ireland could only go over the 150-mark due to their rapid loss of wickets at the conclusion. For India, Prince was spectacular on his debut, hitting hard lengths and mixing yorkers and slower deliveries to outwit Irish batters in the final stages of the game.
Axar Patel and Suryansh Shedge, the second debutant, were without wickets, while Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana were also among them. Ireland were put into bat first and began with a bang, as Ross Adair hit two consecutive sixes off Arshdeep in the first over.
However, Rana broke through in the second over, taking out Tim Tector, before Arshdeep bowled Adair for 16, putting the home side on the back foot.
Ireland suffered further damage when Prince caught Lorcan Tucker behind at the halfway point, as they reached 58/3. However, Tector and Calitz helped the innings move along by hitting boundaries off of Shedge and Axar with ease. Dube’s double strikes in the 15th over, which saw the dismissals of Calitz and Gareth Delany, broke their partnership and threatened to put Ireland near 180.
Ireland remained in the game thanks to Tector’s battling fifty and George Dockrell’s cameo of 19 after a four-minute rain delay. However, Prince’s brilliant changes led to him firing Tector and Liam McCarthy in the last over, giving him a memorable T20I jersey outing.
Ireland, however, ended up writing one of the best chapters in their cricketing history.
Brief Scores:
Ireland 154/8 in 20 overs (Harry Tector 53, Ben Calitz 37; Prince Yadav 3-22, Shivam Dube 2-25)
India 153/9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 55, Harshit Rana 21; Matthew Hollard 3-26, Jai Moondra 3-32)