Ireland Vs India 1st T20I - It Was An Excellent Batting Effort - Virat Kohli

Updated - 28 Jun 2018, 02:14 AM

Indian players form a group huddle during the Twenty20 International cricket match between Ireland and India at Malahide cricket club, in Dublin on June 27, 2018. - The T20 International is the first of two fixtures India play against Ireland on India's summer tour of Ireland and England. (Photo by Paul MCERLANE / AFP) (Photo credit should read PAUL MCERLANE/AFP/Getty Images)

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India commenced their tour of Ireland and England in serious dominance, as the Virat Kohli led outfit stole the show on a sunny afternoon at Dublin. With a two T20I match series to flag off their tour of Europe, India got off to an ideal start, with a dominant batting display.

Put into bat first by Gary Wilson, India’s openers responded in fine style as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan looked in sublime touch. While Sharma initially took his time to get going, the southpaw was at his attacking best, tearing into the hosts without breaking much of a sweat.

Sharma soon matched Dhawan step to step as he put his feet on the accelerator and looked glorious. While the 20^th over of the Indian innings saw a flurry of wickets, namely Sharma, Dhoni and Kohli, it didn’t stop India from making a rocking 208. Rohit was unfortunate to be dismissed for 97.

The chase looked too steep for the Irish as for the exception of James Shannon, none of the batsmen were up for the task. The right hander scored a valiant half century, but found zero support from the other end.

The wrist spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared 7 wickets between them, as the chase was derailed. India eventually clinched the game with 76 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the two match series.

Skipper Virat Kohli was all smiles post the win, as he heaped praises on his side for the performance. “I can’t complain with anything today,” said Kohli. “Opening combination was excellent. The last over bowled by Ireland was terrific. Great effort by Rohit and Shikhar to put us in the good position. And good strikes from MS, Raina and Pandya in the end,” the Indian captain added.

Mentioning that the likes of KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik, who didn’t feature today, would surely get a chance in the second game. “Bowlers did a clinical job too. We are going to be flexible in the next few T-20 matches. It presents the opportunity for the batsmen who don’t get the opportunity to bat. The guys who don’t get a chance too will get an opportunity in the next match. The guys are fine with this decision.”