Ireland vs India, 2018: 2nd T20I - Match Prediction

There is no doubt about the fact that India will head to the second and the final Twenty20 International as firm favourites. It will be more of a test for the bench strength of India ahead of the much sterner test against England.

They were quite outstanding during the opening T20I against Ireland. Visitors drubbed them aside by 76 runs.

The victory was largely built around a sensational opening partnership of 160 runs between Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.

Both played some stunning shots to get going. They continued their domination for the major part of the innings. Dhawan scored a 47-ball 74 which was studded with five fours and as many sixes.

Rohit and Dhawan performed brilliantly:

Prominent batsman Rohit Sharma on the other hand narrowly missed out on a well deserved century. He was castled by Peter Chase in the final over of the innings. He eventually scored 97 off 61 deliveries.

Chase bowled a fantastic final over where he bagged three wickets to finish with figures of four for 35. That was the only bright spot for the Irish in the bowling department.

India will look to test their middle order and the bench strength before they square off in a full-length series against England.

With no surprise whatsoever, the wrist spinners have continued their good work. Even in the opening T20I, the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal bagged seven wickets between them to derail the Irish batting line-up.

Promising spinners bowled quite brilliantly and Irish skipper Gary Wilson said at the post-match presentation that they need to discuss on how to counter such world-class spinners.

James Shanon was the only bright spot for Aussies:

For Ireland, James Shannon was the top scorer for them. He played some brilliant shots en route to 60 off 35 deliveries. It was studded with five fours and four sixes.

Barring him, there were no batsmen who could get going for the hosts. They eventually finished on 132 in their allotted 20 overs, thus handing India a 76 runs victory.

Ahead of the match, India will definitely look to make some changes. They will try to see what their bench are capable of.

India was pegged with the injury scares to Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar.

However, no decision has been taken on the two players. Hence, it looks in doubt whether they will take part in the final T20I.

For Ireland, David Delany has been called up after Josh Little sustained an injury and has been ruled out of the series.

Teams:

India (From): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Washington Sundar, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav

Ireland (From): Gary Wilson(c), Paul Stirling, James Shannon, Andrew Balbirnie, Simi Singh, Stuart Poynter(w), Kevin O Brien, Stuart Thompson, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin, Peter Chase, William Porterfield, Andy McBrine

Match Prediction:

There is no doubt about the fact that India will be the firm favourites.

However given the chances of altering their playing XI, Ireland will look to seize the opportunity. But there is no denying the fact that they have to play out of their skin to make a match out of it.

I believe India will win tonight’s match without any iota of doubt.