IRE vs IND: Why was Ireland's target revised to 226 from 228?

The visitors India went on to win the T20I series after winning the second T20I against Ireland played at The Village, Dublin on June 28 (Tuesday). Batter Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson were the stars in India’s victory as Hooda scored an excellent century and Samson also played an excellent knock of 77 runs.

Due to big contributions from the top order and skipper Hardik Pandya’s finishing antics, the Men in Blue went on to score 225 runs in their allotted 20 overs. However, there was a scoring error during the ending phase of India‘s batting. As a result, the target for Ireland was officially revised from 228 to 226.

During the 19th over, skipper Pandya was at the striker’s end and he lofted a dipping full toss towards long-off. Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie, who was fielding at long-on, ran towards his left and kept the ball in play. There was a slight confusion if the duo of Pandya and Harshal Patel ran two or not. However, two runs were added to the Indian total at that time. After the end of the first innings, an official confirmation was made that no runs were scored in the first ball of the 19th over and therefore, India’s score was revised from 227 to 225.

Talking about the match, India skipper Hardik Pandya opted to bat first after winning the toss but the visitors suffered a blow early as Ishan Kishan was sent packing to the pavilion. It was Hooda and Samson who played excellent cricket and went to stitch a a 176-run partnership for the second wicket, with India breaching the 200-run mark easily.

In reply, Ireland batters came out swinging. Skipper Balbirnie and Paul Stirling gave the perfect start during the field restrictions, but despite scoring at a brisk pace, Ireland kept losing wickets and eventually lost the contest by four runs. Hooda was adjudged player of the Series for his excellent batting in both matches.