Hardik Pandya picked 3-27 to be the standout bowler in India’s dominating performance with the ball as they bowled out Ireland for just 96 in their Group A match of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Apart from Hardik, who thrived in helpful bowling conditions, Arshdeep Singh was superb in his first spell to give India the early edge. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel were solid in their bowling spells to bowl out Ireland just four runs short of 100.
For Ireland, Gareth Delany top-scored with 26 and was involved in partnerships of 27 and 19 for the tenth and eleventh wickets respectively in a miserable performance on a tough batting pitch, something which will lead to more questions being raised about surfaces at New York.
With prodigious seam and swing along with variable bounce on offer under overcast conditions, India wasted no time in running through the Ireland batting line-up. Arshdeep got extra bounce on a length ball to extract a top edge from a slog by Ireland skipper Paul Stirling and it landed safely in Rishabh Pant’s gloves.
Arshdeep beat both Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker in his next over, and the pacer ended the former’s stay by beating his outside edge to crash into the off-stump. With Arshdeep getting extra bounce consistently and Jasprit Bumrah getting the ball to jag both ways, things became more dire for Ireland.
Tucker went for a big booming drive off Hardik Pandya but was castled through the gate by a fuller delivery. Bumrah joined the wicket-taking party when Harry Tector’s top edge on a pull was caught by a short extra cover.
Wickets continued to tumble for Ireland as Pandya had Curtis Campher nicking behind to Pant and got Mark Adair to toe-end a cut to deep point running in, while Mohammed Siraj got George Dockrell to give a top-edge to mid-on and Axar Patel took a brilliant catch off his own bowling to see Barry McCarthy’s back quickly.
Joshua Little and Gareth Delany had a 27-run partnership off 18 balls for the ninth wicket, including hitting three boundaries, which got the side to go past the 68-run mark, which is their lowest T20I total.
Bumrah ended the partnership by clattering the base of Little’s stumps with a 145kmph yorker. Delany hit Arshdeep for two fours and a six before he was run out for 14-ball 26 as India ended Ireland’s chaotic innings.
Brief scores: Ireland 96 all out in 16 overs (Gareth Delany 26; Hardik Pandya 3-27, Jasprit Bumrah 2-6) against India