Ireland vs India T20: World champions to claim series win

Second T20 International, Stormont

Ireland 154-8 (20 overs): H cover 53 (47), Calitz 37 (23); P Yadav 3-22

India 153-9 (20 overs) Tilak 55 (46), Harshit 21 (10); Hollard 3-26, Mundra 3-32

Ireland won by one run.

score card

Ireland’s historic weekend continued as they suffered their first Twenty20 series defeat against India since 2023 with a stunning one-run win at Stormont.

Jay Mundra and Matthew Hollard took three wickets each to impress the world champions for the second time since India’s first-ever win by 34 runs on Friday.

A late charge from India saw the visitors score eight from the last two balls, but Harshit Rana was caught by Tim Tector, supported by his brother Harry, and with the penalty to seal a historic victory.

On Friday, the day many expected and hoped for India’s 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi to make his record-breaking international debut, Ireland stunned the reigning T20 world champions to kick off a historic weekend.

It was the first win against India in any format in 12 Tests, and the ninth time in T20s.

Then 24 hours later, Ireland won the first match of the Women’s T20 World Cup in England.

But things get even better on Sunday.

The 4,000-strong sell-out crowd at Stormont were disappointed when Sooryavanshi was again sidelined for the second T20, and India’s response was expected.

After all, they are world champions – and despised at that.

In his 100th cap, Harry Tector was Ireland’s top scorer with 53 as they restricted the Indian hosts to 154-8.

But the response was led by Mundra, who made his debut on Friday but became the new hero of Irish cricket, when he dismissed Sanju Samson lbw on the first ball of the innings.

Indian-born Mundra, who moved to Dublin to study in 2021, then claimed the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and captain Shreyas Iyer in a 19-3 defeat for India.

The wickets of Ishan Kishan and Azhar Patel also fell, but under the leadership of Tilak Verma, India took themselves to the last six overs with a required run rate of 10.

Tilak’s six off Hollard’s first ball in the 17th over put the pressure on Ireland, but he was dismissed by Liam McCarthy off the next ball to leave India on 117-7.

A late rally from Harshit Rana was not enough to save India the game, and Ireland won by one run.

The win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Mundra and Hollard only played in the first half after injuries to key players such as Mark Adair, Curtis Camper and Josh Little.

With two wins over England and Pakistan over the years, Ireland made a statement against the world’s best-ranked team.