India coast to seven-wicket win over spirted Ireland
Malahide(PTI): Ireland put up a spirted fight but India proved too strong for the home team to win the rain-hit opening T20I by seven wickets here on Sunday.
Harry Tector's counter-attacking 64 not out off 33 balls took Ireland to 108 for four after the rain reduced the game to 12 overs a side.
India were always ahead of the run rate in the chase and with contributions from Ishan Kishan (26 off 11), Deepak Hooda (47 not out off 29) and skipper Hardik Pandya (24 off 12), cruised to victory in 9.2 overs.
Kishan continued his good form to get India off to a quick start. The first over of the innings went for 15 runs as Kishan collected couple of fours and a six off Joshua Little.
In a rather surprising move, Deepak Hooda came to open alongside Kishan in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad. He found his rhythm after a scratchy start and put up a match winning 64-run stand with Hardik.
Just when it seemed Indian were running away with the contest, Craig Young got rid of Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav (0) in successive deliveries to raise hopes for his team.
Kishan's stumps were rattled in another attempt to get a full ball out of the park. Returning to the side after an injury break, Suryakumar got a beauty first up that seamed back to trap him in front of the stumps.
However, Hardik and Hooda kept going for their strokes and a 21-run over from Andy Mcbrine put India back in control.
While Hardik departed after hitting three sixes, Hooda stayed till the end to hit the winning four. His innings comprised two sixes and half a dozen boundaries.
Earlier, India opted to bowl in overcast conditions but soon after the rain arrived, delaying the start of play by more than two hours and 20 minutes.
The conditions were ripe for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to make the ball talk and he did just that in the opening over of the match.
The wily operator got the ball to swing both ways before an inswinger breached the defence of Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie. Skipper Hardik Pandya got himself into the attack in the second over and took two balls to dismiss the dangerous Paul Stirling.
After hitting the first ball over cover, Stirling went for the same shot but mistimed to be caught at mid off. Avesh Khan then had Gareth Delany caught behind in his first over to leave Ireland at 22 for three.
India were expected to run through the opposition but Ireland staged a spirited recovery through Tector, who went for the offensive against the Indian pacers, including debutant Umran Malik.
All eyes were on the Indian pace sensation but he had a rather nervous start to his international career.
He dragged his third ball down the leg side and it raced to the boundary off Lorcan Tucker's (18 off 16) pads. Two balls later, Tector played a beautiful straight drive off a full delivery. Malik dragged the next one short but Hector was ready to pull it for a six.
Tucker smashed two successive sixes off Hardik to give further impetus to the innings.
The last over of the innings yielded 17 runs and pushed the total past 100 with Tector collecting a boundary from a reverse hit off Avesh before smashing a full toss for six over deep cover.
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Mangaluru: Two arrested, MDMA worth Rs 5.41 lakh seized
Mangaluru: Surathkal Police have arrested two persons and seized 54.06 grams of MDMA valued at Rs 5.41 lakh near a weighing bridge at Mukka within the Surathkal police station limits, Deccan Herald reported on Saturday.
According to DCP (Law and Order) Mithun H.N., the police acted on credible information that a resident of Kaup was arriving in the area to sell MDMA. Based on the tip-off, the PSI of Surathkal Police Station conducted a raid and found two cars parked side by side at the spot.
The arrested accused have been identified as Zakaria (38), from Kombugudde in Kaup and Mithun Poojary (23), from Santhekatte, Udupi district.
During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused had allegedly come to Surathkal to sell the MDMA to college students and the general public. Police arrested both and seized a total of 54.06 grams of MDMA from their possession,18.42 grams from Zakaria and 36.18 grams from Mithun Poojary.
Police confiscated two cars worth Rs 13 lakh, two mobile phones valued at Rs 20,000, and cash amounting to Rs 11,700. The total value of the seized property is estimated at Rs 18,72,700.
A case has been registered at the Surathkal Police Station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Further investigation is in progress.
The DCP said that Zakaria has a criminal history, with five previous cases registered against him. These include assault cases at Bajpe Police Station in 2009 and Mulki Police Station in 2020, a case involving assault on a woman in 2022, a kidnapping case at Udupi Town Police Station in 2021, and another assault case at Padubidri Police Station in 2022.
