Ireland swept the two-match series 0-2 after beating India by one run in a thrilling encounter in the second T20I.
With this win, world champion India’s tradition of going unbeaten in 16 consecutive T20 series spanning over 3 years ended.
Batting first, Ireland scored 154 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Harry Tector, batting in charge in his 100th T20 International, scored 53 runs, while his 65-run partnership with Ben Keltz supported the team.
For India, Prince bowled impressively on his T20 debut, taking 3 wickets for 22 runs, while Shivam Dubey took two wickets in consecutive balls at crucial times to try and halt Ireland’s progress.
Chasing a target of 155 runs, the Indian innings got off to a very disappointing start. Ireland’s left-arm pacer Jay Mondra dismissed Sanju Sampson in the first over and sent Abhishek Sharma to the pavilion in the same ball.
It was only the fourth time in T20I history that both openers of a team were dismissed for a golden duck, while it was the first time in T20I history that both Indian openers were dismissed for a golden duck.
Mondra then took the wicket of Shreyas Iyer when Ishan Kishan escaped his delivery, after which India were reduced to 35 for 4.
In difficult conditions, Tilak Verma played a knock of 55 off 46 balls and tried to bring India back into the contest by forming a partnership with Akshar Patel, but Matt Hallard dismissed Akshar to break the partnership.
Ireland’s bowlers continued to press on in the over. After Tilak Verma was dismissed, the Indian batting line-up failed to reach the target and the entire team was restricted to 153 runs for 9 wickets.
Jay Mondra and Matt Hallard took 3 wickets each for Ireland, while Harry Tector was named Man of the Match for his half-century.
With this historic win, Ireland not only defeated world champions India for the second consecutive match, but also completed a clean sweep of the T20 series against India for the first time.
