India began their World Cup campaign with a commanding start. In their first match, they easily defeated Ireland. Even after a decade and a half, Ireland’s fortunes haven’t changed.
Once again, India defeated Ireland by 8 wickets, mirroring their previous World Cup encounter in 2009, where India also won by the same margin.
In Wednesday’s only World Cup match, held at Nassau County Cricket Stadium, India faced off against Ireland. Losing the toss and being put to bat first, Ireland was bundled out for 96 runs in 16 overs due to the fierce bowling of the Indian bowlers. In response, India chased down the target in just 12.2 overs.
In the previous 10 international encounters, Ireland had not been able to make a mark against India, and today’s match was no different. The only question of the day was, who would open with Rohit Sharma? The answer came at the toss: Virat Kohli.
Neither Sanju Samson nor Yashasvi Jaiswal were in the playing eleven, leaving the responsibility to Virat Kohli. However, his innings ended in the third over, scoring just 1 run off 5 balls.
Despite Kohli’s early departure, Rohit Sharma gave no further opportunities to the Irish team, scoring his first fifty of the tournament. However, he retired hurt after scoring 52 off 37 balls when the team’s total was 76 after 10 overs. Rishabh Pant, who came in at number three, was already settled by then, and with Shivam Dube at the other end, he guided India to victory, remaining unbeaten on 36 off 26 balls. Surya Kumar Yadav was out for 2 runs off 4 balls, while Dube remained not out without scoring.
The foundation of the big win was laid by the bowlers. Right from the start, they put pressure on the Irish batsmen. India took their first wicket in the third over, dismissing Paul Stirling for just 2 runs. Another opener, Andrew Balbirnie, was out for 5 runs off 10 balls, both wickets taken by Arshdeep.
After losing 2 wickets for 9 runs, Ireland lost their third wicket at 28 runs. Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector tried to steady the innings, but Hardik broke this partnership by bowling Tucker, who scored 10 runs off 13 balls. Subsequently, Hardik also took the wickets of Curtis Campher (12) and Mark Adair (2).
After losing 7 wickets for 49 runs, the team couldn’t recover. However, Gareth Delany and Josh Little managed to bring the total close to 100. Delany scored the highest for Ireland with 26 runs, while Josh Little contributed 27 off 18 balls, and Ben White added 19 runs in a last-wicket stand.
Hardik took 3 wickets, while Bumrah and Arshdeep claimed 2 wickets each.
