IRE vs IND, 1st T20I, 2023: Jasprit Bumrah makes impact on his India comeback; India win by 2 runs (DLS). Two players made their India debut in T20Is against Ireland.
Brief Scores: India 47/2 (Jaiswal 24, Young 2/2) beat Ireland 139/7 (McCarthy 51*, Bishnoi 2/23, Bumrah 2/24) by two runs in the DLS method.
Man of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah (2/24)
After their recent T20I series defeat to hosts West Indies, India looked to bounce back in style as they locked horns with Ireland for the first three-match T20I series at Malahide in Dublin. India is unbeaten in five affairs between the two sides.
All eyes were on Jasprit Bumrah and how he would perform after a long injury lay-off, and his two wickets, one with an in-swinging delivery and one with some luck, have given the perfect answer everyone was waiting for. Prasidh Krishna, coming back from injury, displayed positive signs with his pace.
India opts to bowl, Krishna & Rinku made T20I debuts
India captain Jasprit Bumrah on winning the toss, opted to bowl first under overcast conditions. Ireland brought back Craig Young, while India, besides welcoming Bumrah after a year, also handed T20I debut caps to Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna.
After going for a boundary on the first ball of the game, Bumrah scripted his comeback with two wickets in the first over as the visitors made Ireland struggle at 30/4 in the powerplay before they could stroll up to 57/5 at the halfway mark. The 57-run stand for the seven wickets took them to 86/6 in 15 overs before an incredible 51* run knock from Barry McCarthy propelled them to 139/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad offered India a steady start with 45/0 in the powerplay before they lost Jaiswal and Tilak Verma on consecutive balls to be reduced to 46/2. With the rain picking up intensity, the covers were called as India left the field on 47/2 in 6.5, 2 runs more than Ireland in DLS par score, and with no more play possible, India bagged the game with a 2-run victory.
Let’s scan the top performances between Ireland and India from the first T20I in Dublin
Maiden T20I, fifty from McCarthy, offered Ireland late stability
When Barry McCarthy walked out in the middle, the homes side struggled at 59/6 in the eleventh over before smashing Ravi Bishnoi over the long-on region for a six. He drilled Prasidh Krishna for a boundary through mid-wicket before nailing him for a six-over long-on and a couple of fours through the cover region.
After recording a rescuing 57-run stand with Curtis Campher, he went mad in the late overs smacking Arshdeep Singh over long-on for a six before celebrating his fifty with a boundary through long-off.
McCarthy finished with an unbeaten 51 runs in 33 balls with the help of four boundaries and four sixes as he helped Ireland reach 139/7.
Bumrah made an inspiring comeback with 2/24
Since the squad's announcement, all the focus was on Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness and how he would go up in his bowling during the T20I series with the extra responsibility of captaincy.
Bumrah was whacked for a boundary on his first ball before he showed his magic, sending back Andrew Balbirnie on a personal score of four, who was looking to defend the in-swinging ball, got an inside edge as the ball disturbed the stumps. Three balls later, Lorcan Tucker, on a duck, tried to play a scoop shot only to die in the hands of the wicketkeeper.
Bumrah bowled with great rhythm and pace, making it hard for the batters to score against him as he finished with 2/24 in his four overs to have 72 T20I wickets in 61 games now.
Krishna bowled with pace to return with 2/32
Like Bumrah, the eyes were on Prasidh Krishna, who was making his T20I debut after returning from a long injury layoff.
On his first over, Krishna sent back Harry Tector on nine, who, in trying to ramp the ball, found the hands of a short third while George Dockrell giving himself some room sliced the ball into the hands of the cover fielder.
Even though Krishna was punished for some boundaries at the backend of the innings, it was good to see him running at full fitness and bowling with sharpness and pace as he returned with figures of 2/32 in four overs.
Statistical Highlight
Barry McCarthy’s 51* run knock is the highest T20I individual score at number 8 or below against India.
Jasprit Bumrah becomes the fourth Indian after Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to pick two wickets in the first over of a T20I game.
What’s to come
India will now take on Ireland during the second of the three-match T20I series on August 20 at Malahide in Dublin.
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