Ireland vs India 2nd T20I Stats Review: Deepak Hooda’s feat, Ireland’s second-highest total, and other stats

Deepak Hooda grabbed all the headlines as he smashed his maiden century in T20Is to seal a 2-0 series victory for India against Ireland. Sanju Samson also struck a half-century as the Men in Blue posted a massive total of 225/7, subsequently winning the second and the final match by a close margin of just four runs at The Village ground in Dublin. With 17 runs needed off the last over and eight off the final three deliveries, speedster Umar Malik held his nerve to take his side over the line.

Speaking of how the match unfolded, Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first. Ishan Kishan fell cheaply for just three runs but his opening partner Samson, who replaced the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, scored 77 off just 42 which included nine fours and four maximums. Hooda, who amassed an uneaten 47 in the first T20I, made his intentions clear as he went after the Irish bowling right from the start.

With the help of nine fours and six maximums, he brought up his maiden century in T20Is to finally end his brilliant innings on 104 off 57. Dinesh Karthik, Axar, and Harshal Patel all got dismissed for golden ducks but India managed to reach 225 in 20 overs. In reply, Paul Stirling got his side to a blistering start as he raced away to 40 off 18 before falling prey to spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Captain Andrew Balbirnie kept going for his side as he mustered 60 off 37 with three fours and seven sixes.

With the skipper getting dismissed in the 11th over and Ireland’s score being 117/3, Harry Tector and George Dockrell took charge to accelerate the innings. Tector made 39 while Dockrell remained unbeaten on 34 with the hosts just falling short by four runs. The visitors won the series 2-0 with Hooda winning both the Player-of-the Match and series awards.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 2^nd T20I between Ireland and India:

 50 – Craig Young appeared in his 50th T20I match.

4 – India registered their fourth-highest total of 225/7 overall and second-highest in away T20Is.

1 – Deepak Hooda, who struck his maiden century, also recorded the highest score (104) by an Indian at no. three in T20Is.

3 – Ireland smashed their third-highest score of 73/1 in the powerplay in T20 internationals.

5 – Hooda also scripted the fifth highest individual score (104) by an Indian in T20 internationals.

8 – India is now tied with New Zealand at the top for most centuries (8) by a team in the shortest international format.

4 – Hooda became the fourth Indian after Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma to score a ton in this format.

4 – India recorded their fourth-smallest victory (four runs). They won by one run margin each against South Africa and Bangladesh in 2012 and 2016 respectively. Also, they defeated Zimbabwe by three runs in the year 2016.

151 – Hooda also slammed the most runs (151) by an Indian in a two-match T20I series. The previous best was by Rahul (110) against West Indies in 2016.

2 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered his joint-second most expensive spell of 46/1. He also leaked 46 runs for one wicket against Pakistan in 2012 and 47/1 against New Zealand in 2019.

176 – Hooda and Sanju Samson registered the highest partnership of 176 for any wicket for India in T20Is. The previous best was 165 by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma against Sri Lanka in 2017.

2 – Ireland achieved their second-highest total of 221/5 in T20 internationals.

4 – Hooda smashed the fourth-fastest century (55 balls) for India in this format.

20 – India is now tied with Pakistan at the top for winning most games (20) since 2021.

221/5 – India conceded the most runs (221/5) while defending 200-plus total in T20Is.

5 – India has now played five matches against Ireland and won all five of them.