India’s young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav’s match-winning figures of 4/21 helped the visitors to register a huge victory of 76 runs and kick off the UK tour on a perfect note. Chasing a daunting target of 209 set by the Indian batsmen, Ireland started off well but after the introduction of the Indian wrist-spin du of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal, the tide turned in the favor of men in blue as the duo outclassed the Irish batsmen with googlies and stock deliveries.
Ireland simply had no answers as both Yadav and Chahal’s bowling antics, who ran through the Irish middle order. Yadav’s guile was too much for the home team as he returned with his best figures in T20Is.
Speaking at the post-match presentation Kuldeep expressed satisfaction and said, “This is my first trip to the UK and it has started well. I think the wicket was good to bat on and it was turning a little bit. We bowled variations and tried to bowl in the right areas. I and Chahal talk a lot when we bowl. First Chahal bowled and he told me that pitch is little slow. If we use variations nicely it will be difficult for England too.”
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India skipper Virat Kohli had no reason to complain either as he said, “Opening combination was excellent. The last over bowled by Ireland was terrific. Great effort by Rohit and Shikhar to put us in the good position. And good strikes from MS, Raina, and Pandya in the end. Bowlers did a clinical job too.”
Explaining the strategy in the next match, Virat went on to say, “We have already announced that apart from the opening combination we are going to do a lot of experiments in the middle order. We are going to be flexible in the next few T-20 matches. It presents the opportunity for the batsmen who don’t get the opportunity to bat. The guys who don’t get a chance too will get an opportunity in the next match. The guys are fine with this decision.”
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Meanwhile, Ireland skipper Gary Wilson acknowledged the difference between the two teams, as he said, “They are a world class side and their top-2 played beautifully. I did not expect it to spin as it did in the second innings. We could have bowled spinners in the powerplay. We are going to have a chat to tackle their spinners.”
