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Jasprit Bumrah dazzled on his T20I captaincy debut and return to international cricket after 327 days as India beat Ireland in a rain-curtailed affair by two runs as per Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method on August 18.
Judging by the weather forecast, Bumrah opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna were handed their T20I debut caps. Bumrah was welcomed with a boundary by Andrew Balbirnie. Next ball, he swung the ball in sharply to leave him bamboozled. In the same over Lorcan Tucker went for a ramp shot but got caught by wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
Paul Stirling and Harry Tector struggled against Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. In the fifth over, debutant Krishna was introduced into the attack. He bowled a back of the length delivery which Tector took high on the bat and got caught by Tilak Varma inside the circle. In the next over, Ireland skipper Paul Stirling got bowled by Ravi Bishnoi as he failed to pick the googly. After six overs, Ireland had 30/4 on the board.
Krishna in his second over struck again as George Dockrell could not get the better of hard length and got caught by Ruturaj Gaikwad. Ireland were reduced to 31/5 in the seventh over. Bishnoi in his third over trapped Mark Adair in front of the wickets as he departed for a run-a-ball 16. At 59/6 in the 11th over, Barry McCarthy walked into bat.
McCarthy hit the first six of his innings in Bishnoi's last over. In the 16th over, Curtis Campher took on Bumrah and hit him for a four and a massive six. In the next over, Krishna took a beating from McCarthy who hit him for two fours and a six. The partnership was broken by Arshdeep in the 18th over. Campher got bowled by Arshdeep's yorker. He scored 39 runs from 33 balls and shared a 57-run stand for the seventh wicket, the third-highest against India in T20Is.
In the final over, McCarthy took on Arshdeep hitting him for a four and a six off first five balls. Then Arshdeep bowled a beamer and McCarthy hit the free hit delivery for a six to complete his half-century. He became the first no.8 batter to score a half-century against India in T20Is. His 33-ball 51 laced with four fours and as many sixes helped Ireland post a respectable total of 139/7 despite a batting collapse.
In reply, Yashasvi Jaiswal started off with two fours in the first over against Adair. In the next over, there was a huge mix-up between Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. At one point both of them were at one end but Ireland missed the chance of an easy run out. After two quiet overs, Gaikwad scored his first boundary in the fourth over. In the next over, he hit the first six of the innings. Jaiswal closed off the powerplay overs with a four and a six.
Craig Young in his first over provided a double strike. First, he got the wicket of Jaiswal with a short ball that landed in mid-wicket fielder Stirling's hands. Then he got the wicket of Tilak Varma for a golden duck. Sanju Samson walked out to bat and took a single then Gaikwad played a dot ball. Meanwhile, the rain got heavier and the umpire asked for covers. When the game stopped, India were two runs ahead of the par score. The game could not resume and India won the first T20I by two runs as per DLS method.
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