Andy Balbirnie fighting knock of 72 went in vain as Ireland went down by 33 runs against India in the second T20 international at The Village in Dublin on Sunday.
After being sent into bat, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad got India off to a steady start. The pair added 29 runs for the opening wicket before the former (18) miscued a short ball from Craig Young to Curtis Campher who ran to his left from deep midwicket boundary.
Barry McCarthy then got into the act by dismissing young Tilak Varma caught at deep square leg by George Dockrell for 1. The pair of Gaikwad along with Sanju Samson added 71 runs for the third wicket stand before the latter dragged a short and wide delivery from Ben White onto his stumps for 40.
Gaikwad’s fine innings of 58 ended when he skied a slower one from Barry McCarthy to Harry Tector. Debutant Rinku Singh (38) and Shivam Dube (22*) provided a final flourish for the visitors by adding 55 for the fifth wicket to take their side to mammoth score of 185/5 in their 20 overs.
Chasing 186, Ireland got off to a disastrous start by losing Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker to well direct short deliveries from Prasidh Krishna for ducks.
Ravi Bishnoi then got into the act by cleaning up Harry Tector with a googly for 7. Leg spinner Bishnoi claimed his second wicket of the game by dismissing Curtis Campher (18), caught by Shivam Dube at backward point while attempting a reverse sweep.
Balbirnie along with George Dockrell resurrected the innings with a valuable 52 run stand for the fifth wicket before the latter was run out following a mix up with his partner for 13.
Left arm pacer Arshdeep Singh dented Ireland’s hopes by sending back by 32 year old Balbirnie caught behind the stumps for a fantastic 51 ball-72. His innings comprised off 5 fours and 4 sixes.
Mark Adair struck some lusty blows towards the end but it was too late as Ireland ended up with 152/8 in their 20 overs, giving India a 33 run win.
With this victory, the visitors clinched the three match series 2-0. The third T20 international will be played on August 23 at Malahide on Wednesday.