Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar achieved a massive feat after taking the wicket of Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie in the first over of 1st T20I match at The Village, Dublin. India captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first in the series opener as Bhuvneshwar bowled the first over. It was the fifth ball of the match when the veteran pacer swung the ball back in and hit the top of the off-stump to get the better of Ireland’s captain on a duck.
BOWLED!! #IREvIND
Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets the first breakthrough for #TeamIndiaAndrew Balbirnie gone for duck! pic.twitter.com/0s6QZGsxbh
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) June 26, 2022
With the dismissal, Bhuvneshwar became the highest wicket-taker in the powerplay in T20I cricket. Balbirnie was Bhuvneshwar’s 34th scalp inside powerplay overs as he surpassed former West Indies spinner Samuel Badree and New Zealand pacer Tim Southee who have claimed 33-wicket each.
Live Score IND vs IRE 1st T20I Latest Updates
Most Powerplay Wickets in T20I
34 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar*
33 – Samuel Badree
33 – Tim Southee
27 – Shakib Al Hasan
26 – Josh Hazlewood
The 32-year-old also became the bowler with second-most wickets in the first over in T20I cricket while playing against the ICC’ full member teams.
Most T20I wickets in 1st over
13 – David Willey
12 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar
11 – Angelo Mathews
9 – Tim Southee
9 – Dale Steyn
Meanwhile, Ireland posted a formidable 108/4 after losing their top three wickets for just 22. Harry Tector played an astonishing knock of unbeaten 64 runs to help the hosts post a challenging total in front of India in a rain-curtailed 12 overs a side clash. Tector played some glorious shots against the Indian bowlers who might have underestimated him. His entertaining knock was laced with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for India with economical figures of 11/1 in three overs.
Also Read | IRE vs IND: Former Cricketer Explains Why Deepak Hooda Was Preferred Over Sanju Samson
Earlier, the persistent rain delayed the start of the game and it turned it into a 12 overs per side clash after Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl. Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav got their places back in the Indian side in place of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, who are in England with the Test squad. While young pacer Umran Malik was handed his India cap. However, it was not an ideal debut for Umran as he bowled just one over in which he leaked 18 runs.
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos and Cricket Scores here