What happened the last time India played Ireland in a T20 World Cup game?
India and Ireland are set to face off in the eighth match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday, June 5, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The upcoming clash will be both sides’ campaign opener at the global tournament.
The two sides have squared off seven times in T20Is, including one meeting at the T20 World Cup. Their most recent clash was a three-match bilateral series in Ireland, where India bagged a 2-0 win with one game being abandoned.
The last time India and Ireland faced each other in a 20-over World Cup game was in the 2009 edition of the tournament. In what turned out to be a low-scoring game, India bagged an eight-wicket win with 15 balls to spare, courtesy of a magnificent bowling display by Zaheer Khan.
Playing the game at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, India won the toss and put the opposition to bat first. Ireland got off to a disappointing start as they lost three wickets inside the powerplay and the fourth on the first delivery post-it.
Zaheer Khan dismissed opening batter Jeremy Bay in just the second over before striking twice in the fourth to dismiss Irish skipper William Porterfield and Andre Botha. It was then Pragyan Ojha who opened his account by dismissing Kevin O’Brien.
Just when Gary Wilsen and John Mooney joined hands to form a partnership, Harbhajan Singh spun a web to send the former packing. The 15th over too saw two wickets falling as Regan West was run out before Ojha scalped Mooney.
Zaheer struck again in the 17th over to pick his fourth and register figures of 4/19 in his four-over spell. In what was an 18-over-a-side game, Ireland managed to get 112 runs on board while losing eight wickets in the process.
Rohit Sharma’s half-century hands India an easy win
Current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma opened the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir back in 2009. The two started off well, sharing a 77-run opening stand before West dismissed the latter to provide his side the first breakthrough.
Nonetheless, the Delhi cricketer managed to score 37 runs off 31 deliveries. MS Dhoni joined Rohit on top of the order, but could only get 14 runs in the 13 balls that he faced before finding his way back to the dugout.
But the wickets did not harm India’s run in the game as Rohit Sharma made the task look easy. He went on to score a half-century and remained unbeaten at 52*(45). His knock included four fours and a solitary six as India clinched an easy eight-wicket win.
India have never lost a T20I game against Ireland and their head-to-head stands at 7-0 in the Men in Blue’s favor. They will enter the forthcoming game of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a clear advantage and will be the favorites to win.