Twitter Reactions: India prevail in the last ball thriller against the spirited Ireland to win the series 2-0

Earlier, India skipper Hardik Pandya opted to bat first after winning the toss but the visitors were rocked early with Ishan Kishan getting out early. However, this was the only success for Ireland bowlers for 14.1 overs with Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson putting on a sensational partnership for the second wicket. The duo took their time initially with the latter taking charge first up. But it was Hooda who played some excellent strokes on the up and shifted gears nonchalantly in the middle overs.

He upped the ante even more after crossing the 50-run mark even as Samson made sure he stayed up with his partner’s pace of scoring runs. The duo shattered records adding a staggering 176 runs for the second-wicket stand. Ireland had themselves to blame with Paul Stirling dropping Hooda and he made sure to make them pay heavily. Hooda was also given out in the fifth over of the innings but he overturned the decision with the help of the DRS.

The carnage began with the batters taking on the off-spin of Andy McBrine and it continued with Hooda running away in the middle overs. Despite not getting much of a strike, Samson stayed calm and also notched up his own half-century. Hooda had reached close to his ton by then and got to his maiden T20I ton off 55 deliveries becoming the fourth Indian to do so in T20Is.

The partnership was finally broken in the 17th over when Mark Adair castled Samson but not before scoring 77 with nine fours and four sixes to his name. Suryakumar Yadav played a cameo of 15 runs off 5 balls but his wicket led to Ireland making a comeback in the death overs. Hooda also got out soon and then the trio of Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel and Harshal Patel bagged golden ducks. India could add only 19 runs off the final 15 deliveries to finish on 225 runs in their 20 overs.

Spirited Ireland fight hard but fall just short in the thriller

Ireland needed a good start at any cost to have any chance of challenging India’s mammoth total. Their veteran opener Paul Stirling did exactly that smashing 40 off just 18 deliveries and skipper Andrew Balbirnie also supported him well. The opening stand of 72 runs within powerplay overs meant that the hosts were in the hunt for the chase. Ravi Bishnoi struck first blood then dismissing Stirling and then Hardik Pandya affecting a brilliant direct hit to send Gareth Delany for a duck brought some respite for India.

However, runs kept coming with Balbirnie and in-form Harry Tector continuing to play shots fearlessly. Ireland were up with the required run rate and at times ahead of it as well which meant that they kept India on their toes all the time. When Balbirnie got out and then Lorcan Tucker was dismissed soon at 142/4 in the 14th over, one felt that the visitors would win easily.

But it wasn’t to be with George Dockrell smashing from the word go and it brought the equation down to 38 runs from the last three overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then brought all his experience to the fore to concede only seven runs in the 18th over including a crucial wicket of Tector. Even then, Ireland didn’t deter and found Mark Adair to hit important boundaries.

The equation came down to 17 runs off the last over and interestingly, despite having his own quota of overs, Hardik Pandya decided to hand the ball to young Umran Malik to defend those runs. He did an amazing job despite bowling a no-ball and conceding a couple of fours. Umran managed to find the blockhole at his pace in the last couple of deliveries and when six runs were needed off the last ball, Adair couldn’t connect cleanly as Ireland fell four runs short of the target.

Having said that, one felt that India got out of the jail with Ireland putting on an excellent show and almost beating one of the top sides in the world. It was also a testing time for Umran Malik who kept his nerves under pressure but many praised Ireland for the fight they put up and for getting ever so closer to beating India.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: