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Ireland v India Second T20 Tips

Hooda and Karthik coolly closed out the game to put India 1-0 up

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Ireland India T20
Photo: Getty

Ireland keep a good game

Ireland did well in the first game. In a match shortened by rain to 12 overs a side, a total of 108 was not bad at all. They probably knew at halftime that ten and above was a minimum, but they’ll be warned for game two.

Perhaps the key was losing Paul Stirling so soon. The beefy starter has been in sensational form on the T20 Blast. Just 15 minutes from him and they could have been very close.

With the ball Mark Adair and Craig Young were economical and powerful respectively. Adair’s two overs went for 14 and Young picked up two wickets. If only they had used another over of at least one of them. Andy McBrine was the villain, if one must have one. His over cost 21 and it was the game.

Potential lineup: Stirling, Balbirnie, Delany, Tector, Tucker, Dockrell, Adair, Young, Little, McBrine, Colphert

India powerhouse

India will be happy with the success of seven wickets. It was a nasty baptism of fire for his players in unannounced conditions. Cloudy, wet and a festival of hard work with the locals anticipating a surprise.

Yuz Chahal grabbed the Man of the Match award and his point difference always proved crucial. Ireland have seen plenty of pace, up and down closers and cutters, but Chahal is something of a mystery. He could well have the last word again, encouraged by the figures of one by 11 of three.

Top scorer Deepak Hooda, rather surprisingly, opened the batting. Ruturaj Gaikwad was not trusted with the fast-scoring rate required. It says much about India’s strategy that if they reckon he isn’t up to the task of scoring that quickly (hardly lkightning by T20 standards), that he shouldn’t be in the squad.

Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya were in brutal form and blasted the game away from the hosts. Possible changes include a run out for Arshdeep Singh.

Potential lineup: Ishan, Gaikwad, Yadav, Hardik, Hooda, Karthik, Axar, Kumar, Avesh, Umran, Chahal


The value in this contest is in the top match batsman market. SO long as we’re correct about the weather forecast, of course. But a gamble’s a gamble.

The openers have the best chance of top scoring in a 20-over innings, let alone a slogfest off 12. So Ishan stands out at 10/3 for honours on the market.  Hooda is surprisingly big at 9/1 after topping for India. He’s also 6s just for a repeat on that front.

If India are minded to give other batters a go, Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson could be promoted at 6/1 and 11/2 respectively.


12-over game India 111 for 3 (Hooda 47*, Kishan 26, Young 2-18) beat Ireland 108 for 4 (Tector 64, Chahal 1-11, Bhuvneshwar 1-16) by seven wickets


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