Ireland sealed a historic first series victory in any format against India with a thrilling one-run win in the second T20 international in Belfast. It has been a monumental week for Irish cricket, with the men’s team claiming their first-ever T20I victory against India in the opening game of the two-match series.
That result came just a day before Ireland’s women’s team secured their first victory at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against West Indies on Saturday.
Looking for a 2-0 series sweep, Ireland posted 154-8 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by India, with Harry Tector top-scoring with 53 off 47 balls and Ben Calitz adding a vital 37 off 23 in the middle order.
Chasing a score of 155 that would have levelled the series, India lost wickets at regular intervals and looked finished at 121-8 in the 18th over, but things came right down to the wire in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,000 fans. The match started poorly for the hosts, who lost the wickets of Tim Tector (5) and Ross Adair (16) inside the first three overs. Harry Tector arrived at the crease and struck a sensational 53 from 47 deliveries to steady the ship. He was ultimately removed by Prince Yadav in the 19th over – he was India’s best bowler with figures of 3-22.
Ireland’s Jai Moondra was crowned the player of the series in what was his second international appearance for the hosts, after he took five wickets across both games, adding a trio of wickets on Sunday. He was India’s powerplay destroyer, dismissing both openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma for ducks.
Moondra (3-32) returned in the third over and forced India captain Shreyas Iyer (10) to clip a thick inside edge into his stumps, leaving India scrambling with a loss of three wickets for 19 runs. Matt Hollard also impressed with the ball, snaring Axar Patel (14), before taking the crucial wicket of Tilak Varma, after he brought up a score of 55 from 46 deliveries.
Shivam Dube added a further 20 runs, before he was caught by George Dockrell off a Matthew Humphreys delivery, before Hollard struck again, removing Suryansh Shedge (1), and leaving India needing 34 runs off the final 13 deliveries.
A thrilling finale ensued with Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh tasked with seeing out the match.
Rana attacked with the bat, hammering a four and a six in the 19th over, before being caught by Tim Tector off a delivery from Harry Tector at long-on as the visitors fell just short, with Ireland rushing to the centre of the wicket to celebrate the win.
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