India vs Ireland, Ist T20I: Highlights: Dhawan, Rohit, Kuldeep power India to win

Rohit Sharma made a sparkling 97 for India against Ireland

Malahide, June 27: Wednesday night was of events extraordinary if you are a sports fanatic. In Russia, South Korea packed off defending champions Germany and outsiders Sweden topped the group to enter Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup 2018.

I always look to take wickets: Kuldeep Yadav

India provided a dose of normalcy in faraway Malahide, a little town in Dublin, Ireland, when they expectedly beat Ireland by 76 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

SCOREBOARD

Rohit Sharma missed out on a well-deserved third T20 international century as India made a mockery of an inexperienced Ireland bowling attack, scoring 208 for 5. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets for 21 runs and Ireland were never in chase.

Put into bat, Rohit (97 off 61 balls) made amends for his poor IPL form in the company of an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who smashed 74 off 45 balls.

The opening pair put on 160 in 16 overs to set the foundation. However, India lost three wickets in the final over, preventing them from scoring in excess of 225, which looked likely on a placid track.

.@imkuldeep18 takes a four for.

He has also attained his best T20I bowling figures of 4/21 in this game.#IREvIND pic.twitter.com/I43E8T6MeF
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2018

Young right-arm medium pacer Peter Chase finished with career-best figures of 4 for 35 with a memorable 20th over in which he accounted for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11), Rohit and skipper Virat Kohli (0).

Rohit went for a wild slog and was bowled thereby missing out his hundred by a whisker. His innings had eight fours and five sixes while Dhawan five boundaries and an equal number of maximums.

Innings Break!#TeamIndia 208/5 in 20 overs (Rohit 97, Dhawan 74)

Follow the game here - https://t.co/Qr2pRPJyur #IREvIND pic.twitter.com/wsYfaLESHy
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2018

India reached 50 in the fifth over. When the team total reached 61, Rohit-Dhawan completed 1000-run in the form of their partnership in T20 Internationals.

Indias 100 came up in the 11th over and neither batsman had offered a chance to the bowlers till then. Dhawan reached his seventh T20 half-century off 27 balls, while Rohit's 15th T20 half-century came off 39 balls.

Such was their dominance on the Irish bowling that there were only a couple mishits until then. Ireland did have their opportunities.

Gabbar is on song here as he brings up his 50 off 27 deliveries.#IREvIND pic.twitter.com/wx8yjv3UCQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2018

There were a couple of miscommunications while running between the wickets and Ireland even managed a direct hit but didnt get a favourable decision. Stuart Thompson had a nightmarish time on the field.

First, he dropped Rohit at long off in the 15th over off George Dockrell (0-40) and then let go another one at long on in the next over off Kevin OBrien (1-36). Finally he managed to latch onto a chance off Dhawan in that same over.