Ireland Defeats Reigning T20 World Champions India by 34 Runs in First Match

Belfast. Reigning T20 World Champions India have been defeated by Ireland, who are ranked 12th in the world. Ireland beat India by 34 runs in the first match of the two-game series held in Belfast on Friday.

This is the first match the Indian team has played in this format since winning the T20 World Cup last March. This is also India's first ever defeat against Ireland in the history of cricket.

Batting first after losing the toss, Ireland posted a strong total of 182 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Lorcan Tucker scored a half-century of 50 runs for them.

The Indian team, chasing a target of 183 runs, was all out for just 148 runs in 18.5 overs. Opener Abhishek Sharma scored the most runs with 50 off 20 balls, but could not lead the team to victory. Young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi did not get a chance to debut in this match.

India lost control of the game in the last five overs of Ireland's innings. In the 16th over, captain Shreyas Iyer handed the ball to Washington Sundar, where he conceded 19 runs in his only over.

Then in the 17th over, Prasidh Krishna conceded 27 runs, with Gareth Delany hitting three consecutive sixes off the last three balls of his over. In these two overs alone, India conceded 46 runs, and Ireland's score suddenly jumped from 118/5 to 164/5.

Not only bowling, but India's fielding was also very poor. Indian fielders dropped three important catches. Shivam Dube dropped Tim Tector's catch, while Abhishek Sharma missed an easy catch from Gareth Delany. Similarly, Washington Sundar could not take Lorcan Tucker's catch. Taking advantage of these lifelines, Tucker scored 50 and Delany scored 49 runs, taking the team to a big score.

In pursuit of the target, India's top-order batting completely flopped. India had already lost the wickets of Sanju Samson (5), Ishan Kishan (1), and captain Shreyas Iyer (3) for 60 runs.

Although Abhishek Sharma played a explosive innings of 50 off 20 balls, the Indian team collapsed like a house of cards as soon as he got out. 7 batsmen of the team could not even reach double figures, and the entire team was bundled out for 148 runs.