IND vs IRE, T20: Hardik Pandya led the Indian team to a seven-wicket win over Ireland in the first match of the two-match series in Dublin on Sunday. Hardik Pandya was captaining the Indian team for the first time.
The all-rounder made the moment more memorable by returning figures of 1/26 in his bowling and then scoring 24 off 12 with the bat. Hardik’s lone dismissal in the game made him the first Indian captain to take a T20I wicket.
Hardik Pandya became the first Indian captain to take a wicket :-
Eight players captained India before Hardik but none of them took wickets. The players are Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant.
After winning the toss, Ireland decided to bat first :-
Talking about the match played on Sunday, Ireland won the toss and decided to bat first. Riding on Harry Tector’s unbeaten 64 off 33, the hosts posted 108/4 in a rail-cut match, which was reduced to 12 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal took one wicket each for India.
Deepak Hooda scored 47 not out in 29 balls :-
In return, Deepak Hooda scored an unbeaten 47 off 29 balls, along with Ishan Kishan 26 off 11 and Hardik 24 off 12 to help India reach home with seven wickets and 16 balls to spare.
Hardik Pandya, “Great to start the series with a win” :-
Hardik said in the post-match presentation, “It’s great to start the series with a win. For us, as a team, it is very important to start with a win. Very happy with that.”
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Hardik Pandya, “Ireland batted brilliantly” :-
“Ireland batted well, we had to go back to our main bowlers. Some of the shots he (Harry Tector) played were mind-blowing,” he said.
