IRE vs IND, 2nd T20I, 2023: India back to winning ways in T20Is; take unassailable 2-0 lead

IRE vs IND, 2nd T20I, 2023, Top Performances: Sanju Samson-Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 71 runs stand, Rinku Singh-Shivam Dube’s 55-run stand and Andy Balbirnie’s 72 are top performance. India lead three match series by 2-0.

India beat Ireland in 2nd T20I and lead series by 2-0 (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Brief Scores: India 185/5 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 58, Sanju Samson 40, Rinku Singh 38, Barry McCarthy 2/36) beat Ireland 152/8 (Andy Balbirnie 72, Jasprit Bumrah’s 2/15) by 33 runs.

Man of the match: Rinku Singh (38 off 21)

India produced an all-round display to beat Ireland in the second T20I at Dublin on Sunday and take a winning lead of 2-0 with a match to go. After some useful cameos from Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube took India to 185/5, the bowlers came to the party to restrict Ireland to 152/8. Captain Bumrah led from the front with the ball, taking 2/15 to take India home.

Talking points: Playing his debut T20I innings, Rinku Singh showed great skills, temperament, and game awareness to take India to a match-winning total in the company of Shivam Dube. The two revealed that India’s future in T20I is in safe hands, and the IPL heroes can do wonders internationally. Also, Indian bowlers did reasonably well to restrict a good Ireland batting unit at their home ground.

Cameos take India to 185/5

Asked to bat first, India rode on a half-century from Ruturaj Gaikwad (58) and useful cameos from Sanju Samson (40) and Rinku Singh (38) to post 185/5. Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal fell early, holing out in the deep to Curtis Campher for 18 off Craig Young’s bowling. Tilak Varma fell next for 1, holing out in the deep to George Dockrell for a one-off of Barry McCarthy’s bowling.

The other opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson, then combined to post a stand of 71 runs off 8.1 overs. Samson took on Josh Little’s over, cracking three fours and a six. But he lost his wicket, played down off Ben White’s bowling. Gaikwad reached his fifty but fell soon after that, looking for a big shot against a slower ball from McCarthy.

The momentum dipped after that before Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube combined to score 41 runs in the last two overs. Rinku cracked three sixes and a four, and Dube smashed two sixes in the previous 2 overs. Rinku fell for 38 on the penultimate ball but took India to a competitive total. McCarthy was the best bowler for Ireland, taking 2/36.

Read More: IRE vs IND, 1st T20I, 2023: Jasprit Bumrah shines on comeback; India win by 2 runs (DLS)

Balbirnie’s knock goes in vain

Ireland positively began the chase, with opener Andy Balbirnie doing the most damage. Including Prasidh Krishna in the third overturned the script, as the opener Paul Stirling and No 3 Lorcan Tucker fell to mistimed pull shots for a duck each. Harry Tector fell bowled to a googly from Ravi Bishnoi to reduce Ireland to 28/3 in the 6th over. Balbirnie had by then adjusted to the pace of the wicket, hogged the strike, and scored the bulk of the runs. He stitched a stand of 35 runs with Curtis Campher and 52 runs for the 5th wicket with George Dockrel.

Balbirnie played the lone hand in keeping the Irish hopes alive, reaching a well-made fifty. But with the required run rate climbing to 10 runs per over, Balbirnie went for his shots almost every ball and finally edged it behind to keeper off Arshdeep’s bowling. Balbirnie made 72 off 51 balls with five fours and four sixes. Later, Mark Adair gave a few scares, hitting three sixes in his 15-ball 23. Captain Bumrah wrapped up the match with a maiden 20th over to win by 33 runs.

Let’s scan the top performances between Ireland and India from the second T20I in Dublin.

Gaikwad scored fifty against Ireland in 2nd T20I (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Samson-Gaikwad’s 71 runs stand

India needed some momentum to their innings after losing two early wickets. Samson, who was not having a great run of form, took upon the challenge to resurrect India’s innings in the company of Ruturaj Gaikwad. While Gaikwad played a mature knock of first holding one end up, Samson took the onus of taking risks and going for the big shots. He took on Little’s over to plunder 18 runs, bringing the necessary impetus to the innings. He cracked three fours and a six, with the best shot of the match being the pulled six over fine leg. Gaikwad was happy to rotate the strike and let Samson do most of the scoring, but he didn’t miss out on scoring off the loose balls. The partnership helped India build the necessary momentum for the big hitter to cash in on later.

Read More: India's pain points in T20Is and what's the way forward

Rinku Singh scored 38 off 21 balls against Ireland (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Rinku-Dube’s 55-run stand for the fifth wicket

Till the 18th over, India was looking into all sorts of trouble and could end up with a below-par score of 160-165. But in the 19th over, Rinku turned over a gear or two and took on the best Irish bowler of the match Barry McCarthy, cracking two sixes and four in the 19th over. The best shot from Rinku’s bat came in this over when he slammed a lofted cover drive for a six. With the momentum right back, Shivam Dube too came to the party, smashing two straight sixes in the first two balls of the 20th over bowled by Mark Adair, and then Rinku cracked his third six of the match to take India to a winning total. The last two overs got India 41 runs, thanks to the Rinku-Dube pair. It turned the match on its head for India and got the necessary momentum before the bowlers finished the job comfortably.

Read More: Tilak Varma making the no.4 spot his own in T20Is

Andy Balbirnie’s 72 runs

Ireland batters struggled to score against the accurate Indian bowlers except for the Irish opener Andy Balbirnie who looked comfortably at ease. The most standout aspect of his 72-run knock was that he never got bogged down with wickets falling at the other end regularly and kept going after the Indian bowlers, carting five fours and four sixes. He scored at a strike rate of over 140, and as long as Balbirnie was at the crease, Ireland harbored hopes of a win. But Balbirnie didn’t get much help from the other end, and he attempted a shot too many and edged it behind to a wide delivery from Arshdeep Singh. Also, Balbirnie showed a great range of strokes, hitting all across the ground and against both pacers and spinners. He also comfortably played across the line to easily get the big shots.

Statistical Highlights

1) India has stretched their all-win record against Ireland in T20I to 7 matches. 2) Jasprit Bumrah is the joint second in the list of most maidens bowled (10) in T20Is.

What’s next?

With the series won, the third T20I is of academic interest. But India would look to go for the kill and register a 3-0 series win. They might rest a few players and give the reserve players a chance to have a go at Ireland. However, the hosts would look to salvage some pride by pulling off a win in the third T20I and cutting India’s party short.

Read More: Hardik Pandya's captaincy in T20Is; Will it be good in the longer run?