New York (AFP) – Hardik Pandya took two wickets in two balls as India dismissed Ireland for a lowly 96 in the teams’ T20 World Cup opener in New York on Wednesday.
Left-armer Arshdeep Singh did the early damage after India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss by striking twice in the third over to reduce Ireland to 9-2.
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All-rounder Pandya (3-27) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-6) followed up.
Only four Ireland batsmen reached double figures, Gareth Delany top-scoring for 26 before he was run out as the innings ended with exactly four overs still left.
Once again a drop-in pitch of variable bounce at a Long Island ground built specially for the tournament, where both Sri Lanka and South Africa had struggled for runs on Monday, made life tough for the batsmen.
Ireland were 77-9 when tailender Josh Little was bowled for 14.
But with Delany hitting both Pandya and Arshdeep for well-struck sixes, Ireland rallied
Earlier, left-armer Arshdeep had Ireland captain Paul Stirling skying to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and then clean bowled Andy Balbirnie with a delivery that cut away.
Pandya had Curtis Campher (12) caught behind and with the first ball of his next over dismissed Mark Adair before Barry McCarthy survived the hat-trick.
© 2024 AFP
