Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson produced absolute carnage when their knocks helped India post a mammoth 225/7 in the 2nd T20I against Ireland at the The Village in Malahide, Dublin. With the massive score, a few have anticipated an equal fight from Ireland. But to everyone’s surprise, Irish batters played till the end with doubts surrounding the Indians if Ireland would be able to defeat them for the first time.
Irish opener Paul Stirling played a whirwind knock to give a perfect start, then captain Andy Balbirnie played a fine half-century. Harry Tector, George Dockrell and Mark Adair fought and attcked the Indian bowlers but to their dissapointment, they lost the match by four runs.
Thanks to Umran Malik, Ireland failed to smash 12 runs off four balls in the penultimate over. India skipper Hardik Pandya explained why he handed the ball to bowler Umran Malik.
“I was trying to keep all the pressure out of my equation. I wanted to be in the present and I backed Umran. He has pace, with his pace it’s always going to be tough to get 18 runs. They played some amazing shots, they batted very well, credit to them and credit to our bowlers for holding their nerves,” Pandya said in the post-match presentation.
“The crowd, their favourite boys were Dinesh and Sanju. Great experience to experience this side of the world. A lot of support comes for us, we try to entertain them and hope we did that. Thanks to everyone who supported us,” said the India captain.
“As a child, it’s always a dream to play for your country. Leading and getting the first win was special, now winning the series is special as well. Happy for Deepak and Umran,” he added.
Social media was full of praise for Ireland for the fight. Check their reactions below.
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Check Twitter’s reactions where fans praise Umran Malik and Ireland
