Debutants star as Ireland stun India for historic win

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did not make his highly anticipated India debut on Friday. Instead, Ireland pulled off a spectacular upset to register their first-ever win over India in any format.

Led by a fifty from captain Lorcan Tucker and 49 from Gareth Delany, Ireland set India a target of 183. Matthew Hollard and Jai Moondra impressed on debut, picking up three and two wickets respectively, while Matthew Humphreys also claimed three wickets despite bowling with an injured webbing. India were bowled out for 148 as Shreyas Iyer's T20I captaincy began with an unprecedented loss.

Abhishek Sharma got India off to a rollicking start by striking Humphreys for a six and a four. Moondra enjoyed a dream debut, dismissing Sanju Samson off his first delivery. Abhishek hit a six off Moondra before smashing Liam McCarthy for four fours. Hollard dismissed Ishan Kishan off his second delivery before removing Iyer, leaving India at 68/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

Abhishek reached his fifty off 19 balls in the eighth over before falling. Ireland tightened the screws with spin. Tilak Varma fell to Humphreys. Hollard's dream debut continued as he dismissed Washington Sundar for his third wicket. Boundaries dried up through the middle overs.

Needing 54 off the last five overs with four wickets in hand, Shivam Dube lost his wicket in the 16th. Axar Patel fell in the following over. Harshit Rana struck a crucial six off Moondra but holed out next ball. Arshdeep Singh then holed out to long-on to seal Ireland's win.

Earlier, Ireland got off to an explosive start after being asked to bat first, with Tim Tector smacking a six and Ross Adair hitting consecutive boundaries. India struck back through Rana, who dismissed Adair. Harry Tector fell for a duck to Arshdeep. Tim Tector departed in the following over, leaving Ireland on 36/3.

Ben Calitz struck Prasidh Krishna for two sixes but fell to Dube. Tucker and Delany added 64 while rebuilding before cutting loose from the 13th over. India squandered a chance when Abhishek dropped Delany in the 11th.

Tucker reached his fifty off 36 balls but fell to Rana. The next two overs cost India 19 and 27 runs as George Dockrell and Delany launched an assault.

Two tight overs from Axar sandwiched a tidy over from Arshdeep as Ireland finished with 182/9. It proved more than sufficient to script history.

Brief Scores: Ireland 182/9 (Lorcan Tucker 50, Gareth Delany 49; Harshit Rana 3-24) beat India 148 all-out (Abhishek 50, Shivam Dube 25; Matthew Hollard 3-28, Matthew Humphreys 3-38) by 34 runs.