Ireland vs India 2018, 1st T20I: Five reasons why Ireland lost
The Indian Cricket Team have kicked off the English summer with a thumping victory over Ireland to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20 series. Virat Kohli and Co. won by a massive margin of 76 runs at the Mark Hawthorne Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday (June 27).
Gary Wilson won the toss and decided to bowl first, so as to give his team a chance to compete in the game with their relatively strong batting line-up. However, an Indian opening stand of 160 runs upfront killed the game from the very beginning, making it increasingly tough for the hosts to find a way through on the day.
Ultimately, a target of 209 proved to be a bit too much for the hosts, as they wilted for 132-9 in the chase.
Here are five reasons why Ireland lost to India in the opening game:
#5 Inability to handle wrist-spin
As they have done consistently in recent months, the leg-spin twins, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, terrorized the opposition batsmen with their bamboozling deliveries. The Irishmen kept trying to pick them through the chase, but kept getting it wrong and falling to the wrist-spin of the Indian duo.
Yadav, with incredible bowling figures of four for 21 in his quota of four bowlers, was the recipient of the Man of the Match award at the end of the game. The young bowler was responsible for the dismissal of James Shannon, highest run-scorer for the hosts in the chase.
Chahal did not disappoint too, scalping three dismissals on the day. He got the important wickets of Gary Wilson and Kevin O'Brien, thus breaking the very spine of the Irish batting line-up.
It will be interesting to see how the hosts handle the leg-spinners in the next game, as it will help demonstrate how quick and efficient is their adjustment to changing circumstances on the cricket field.
Chahal and Yadav, on the other hand, will want to keep performing like this consistently, especially with the big England tour coming up for India right after the T20 series against Ireland.