India set Ireland a big target of 226 to win and draw level in the two-match T20I series on Tuesday in Dublin. The tourists may not have been anticipating the stunning reply from the Irish batters with their captain Andrew Balbirnie kickstarting a stunning start to the chase.
After a bit of a wobble in the middle overs, the hosts revived their chase and nearly hunted down the target. They eventually finished at 221/5 but their audacity did leave quite an impression on Harshal Patel who was all praise for the Irish batters.
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“They played some exceptional shots and we were sort of surprised the way they batted today. There’s no doubt about the quality of the Ireland batters,” Harsha said after the match as India wrapped up the series 2-0.
Barring Axar Patel, every bowler used by India copped punishment with Balbirnie hitting a 37-ball 68 and Paul Stirling 18-ball 40. Harry Tector continued his superb run as he struck 39 off 28 before George Dockrell (34*) and Mark Adair (23*) almost dragged them over the line.
Harshal, who leaked 54 runs for a wicket in his four overs, said India were comfortable having posted a 200-plus total.
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“We were comfortable. When you get 225, you defend it most of the times. They played some really good shots, the wicket was a belter, the outfield was fast, we made a few mistakes, they got close, but we held our nerves and closed the game. The momentum was on the batting side but he (Umran Malik) held his nerve,” he said.
Balbirnie said his team did a lot of good stuff with the bat but finishing on the losing side was disappointing.
“We are all pretty good, we did a lot of good stuff with the bat. We wanted to express and we did that. Bitterly disappointed, a bitter pill to swallow,” he said.
India had taken a 1-0 lead thanks to their seven-wicket win in the rain-curtailed first T20I on Sunday.
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