T20WC 2024: Indian pacers mow down Ireland for 96
New York, Jun 5: India's quartet of fast bowlers were simply menacing on a pitch offering variable bounce and seam movement dismantling Ireland for a lowly 96 in their opening T20 World Cup match here on Wednesday.
Arshdeep Singh (2/35 in 4 overs), Mohammed Siraj (1/13 in 3 overs), Jasprit Bumrah (2/6 in 3 overs) and Hardik Pandya (3/27 in 4 overs) didn't give any breathing space to Irish batters who were made to look like novices in front of swing, seam and extra bounce that the four-pronged attack produced during the 14 out of 16 overs they bowled.
Such was their plight that none of the Irish batters save one --- Gareth Delany (26 n.o, 14 balls) could even cross 20-run mark individually. Delany's innings took them close to the 100-run mark.
Rohit Sharma was lucky with the coin and the overcast conditions was just the kind of help Arshdeep needed first up as he bowled an ideal Test match length with the white Kookaburra.
Most of his deliveries were pitched up and reared up from length making life miserable for the seasoned duo of Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie.
It only helped that Mohammed Siraj also kept up the relentless pressure from the other end as the two openers found it difficult to even put bat on balls that were jagging around allowing Rishabh Pant to dive full stretch on both sides of the track.
Stirling tried to pull one which climbed up on him from good length and Pant ran backwards to pouch the skier.
For Balbirnie, his 'one-leg' stance turned out to be a wrong strategy to counter Arshdeep as he bowled one that was pitched on middle and moved a shade towards off with the batter with no footwork unable to cover the line of the swing.
The Powerplay gone horribly wrong at 26 for 2 for Ireland, and there was no coming back for them.
Pandya as the second change pacer bowled a perfect nip-backer with a wobbly seam to breach through Lorcan Tucker's defence.
Bumrah then scarred an already rattled Harry Tector with a nasty bouncer that took his gloves and almost blew away his head lobbing off the helmet.
At the halfway stage, Ireland, who recently beat Pakistan in a T20I at home, were 49 for 6 and the match had already becoming lopsided.
The biggest gain from the game was Pandya bowling his full quota of overs and the lengths that he hit during his spell which will give his skipper a chance to play an extra batter or bowler as per the demands of the conditions in coming games.
His three dismissals were different deliveries -- first one was swing, the second seam and the third extra bounce.
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Protesters clash with police during torch rally in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): People protesting the death of two children in a recent bomb blast in Manipur clashed with security forces during a torch rally in the state capital Imphal, police said.
Two children died in a bomb blast at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur on April 7. The Imphal Valley districts have been witnessing daily protests over the incident.
A seven-km-long torch rally was brought out from Mayai Lambi to Keishamthong in Imphal West district on Monday night, but the participants turned violent and clashed with the security forces, a police officer said.
Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells in Keishamthong area after hundreds of protesters defying curfew demanded they be allowed to proceed for another 200 metres towards Keisampat area, which is close to the Lok Bhavan and the BJP state office, he said.
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Orders prohibiting the movement of any individuals outside their respective homes are in force in all the five valley districts from 5 pm to 5 am.
"Protesters pelted the security forces with stones and iron pellets from catapults, endangering the lives of the heavily outnumbered security forces," the officer said.
Manipur Police have, meanwhile, arrested 19 people for violating curfew and committing offences, including blocking roads and damaging public property, in the Greater Imphal area. They were nabbed from different parts of Imphal West district on Sunday, a police statement said.
In the Ukhrul district headquarters, a candlelight vigil was held on Monday night to honour the two Tangkhul Naga civilians who were killed in an ambush in TM Kasom area in the district on April 18.
Various civil society organisations from both the valley and hill areas strongly condemned the brutal killings, alleging that the victims were shot by Kuki militants using sniper rifles.
