Arshdeep was excellent in his first two overs before fading away, Pandya bowled a fuller length than usual to pick up three wickets and Jasprit Bumrah was impeccable as always, two for six from three overs signalling an excellent day in office
Hardik Pandya (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker in New York yesterday. Pic/Getty Images; (right) Jasprit Bumrah
The opening match of any big-ticket competition can bring with it attendant nerves and the pressure of having to get off to a winning start. When it’s the T20 World Cup at a largely unfamiliar venue, the stakes are even more magnified.
India did well to negotiate a potential minefield at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday morning, getting the composition of their bowling attack spot-on to make the most of Rohit Sharma’s luck with the coin. With Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya spearheading the four-man pace attack, they shot Ireland out for just 96 in 16 overs, the Irish only getting there because their last two wickets added 46.
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Arshdeep was excellent in his first two overs before fading away, Pandya bowled a fuller length than usual to pick up three wickets and Jasprit Bumrah was impeccable as always, two for six from three overs signalling an excellent day in office.
Ireland didn’t do their cause any good by embarking on a series of adventurous strokes on a tricky pitch where the bounce was uneven—from the same length, the ball either scooted through or snaked up without warning—and seam movement liberal. They didn’t seem to have learnt from Monday’s game here when Sri Lanka only mustered 77; a little more circumspection might have pushed them into the 130s, certainly a competitive tally given how laborious batting was.
There was no immediate delight for Virat Kohli on his return as T20I opener as he perished for a five-ball one in the third over of India’s chase, to Mark Adair. In keeping with their propensity to change things up, India pushed Rishabh Pant up to No. 3, ostensibly to have a left-hander in the top three, and he and Rohit overcame the odd scare to push to total to 39 for one at the end of the six Powerplay overs.
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