Ireland's fast-bowling all-rounder Barry McCarthy entered the record books on August 18 as he became the first no.8 batter to hit a half-century against India in T20Is. McCarthy rescued Ireland from a batting collapse and scored an unbeaten 33-ball 51 to help the hosts post a respectable total of 139/7 on the board in the first T20I of the three-T20I series.
McCarthy broke South Africa's Keshav Maharaj's record of the highest individual score in T20Is at no.8 against India. Maharaj scored 41 runs from 35 balls against the Rohit Sharma-led side in 2022.
McCarthy became the third Ireland batter to hit a T20I half-century at no.8. Earlier this year, Mark Adair scored 72 runs from just 36 balls against Scotland. In 2018, Simi Singh registered an unbeaten 57 off 29 balls against the Netherlands.
McCarthy's unbeaten 51-run knock is the 11th-highest score by a no.8 batter in T20Is. The record belongs to Belgium's Saber Zakhil who scored an unbeaten 100 off just 47 balls against Austria in 2021.
After Ireland lost six wickets for 59 in the 11th over, McCarthy walked into bat. He took an aggressive approach and launched a counter-attack. He shared a 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Curtis Campher. This is the third-highest seventh-wicket partnership against India in T20Is.
The record belongs to Sri Lankan pair Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka who put up an unbeaten 68-run stand in January 2023. Also, Tim David and Daniel Sams shared a 68-run stand in September 2022.
McCarthy got to his half-century off the final ball of the innings bowled by Arshdeep which was a free hit. Arshdeep had bowled a beamer to McCarthy off the previous delivery. The 30-year-old's 33-ball 51 was laced with four fours and as many sixes. It also gave Ireland a fighting chance after their batting lineup disappointed.
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