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Mathew Hollard wins POTM after Ireland beat India: India faced Ireland at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont, Belfast, Ireland, in the first of a two-match T20I series. The Men in Blue had the worst possible start as the Irish side defeated the visitors for the first time across formats, with Shreyas Iyer having the worst possible start to his captaincy, losing against Ireland.
This is one of the biggest upsets in T20Is as Ireland stunned the T20 World champions by 34 runs. Lorcan Tucker’s inexperienced side dared to dream after beating the World champions to take a lead in the 2-match T20I series. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match, as India had some changes in the side.
Harshit Rana makes a brilliant comeback
After being asked to bat first, Ireland were 51/4 at the start of the game, with Harshit Rana removing the two openers, Tim Tector and Ross Adair, quickly for 12 and 17 runs respectively. Arshdeep Singh picked Harry Tector for a three-ball duck. Harshit Rana was the pick of the bowlers for 3/24 in his four overs.
For the Irish side, skipper Tucker smacked a fifty and also stitched the partnership of 64 off 44 deliveries with Gareth Delany, who was dropped at 8, and was dismissed on 49 runs as Ireland finished 182/9 in 20 overs.
Ireland creates history against India
Coming out to chase, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma were off to a decent start, but the former was dismissed for five runs by debutant Jai Moondra. Abhishek smacked a fifty off 19 deliveries but went back in the very next ball he faced. Except for Abhishek, no batter crossed the 30-run mark.
India lost half the side for 91 runs, and a small partnership from Shivam Dube and Axar Patel took the game close, but the former was out on 24 runs, and Axar was back for 15 runs. Ishan Kishan could not fire as he was out for one run. Shreyas Iyer also failed to trouble and was dismissed for three runs.
Mathew Hollard after the POTM performance against India
Mathew Hollard was the best bowler, picking 3/28 in his four overs. The pacer was named the Player of the Match for his exceptional performance against the reigning T20 World Cup champions. Mathew Hollard felt really proud after his excellent match-winning performance.
Mathew Hollard said, "In all honesty, I never expected this. I always knew I had it, but I never thought I'd make my debut against India. It's a dream come true. My family has flown in from Jo'burg. It's a bit of a dream. [On when the ball went up in the air off his first ball] After that first ball, I turned to Harry and said 'The first one's done'.
He further stated, "And then when the ball went in the air, my heart just stopped for the moment. Really, really special. I have really been wanting to come over to Ireland since 2019. Then Covid hit and there were complications. There were setbacks from me. My brother came here first and said you have to come over."
"And then Cricket Ireland have been amazing in how they took care of me. [On his family] I haven't seen them in a while and to see them over here, nothing could be better. Them seeing me get my cap and then cheering me on, it's unbelievable," Mathew Hollard concluded.
