Jasprot Bumrah made a successful comeback from injury on Friday. Against Ireland in the first T20I of a three-match series, Bumrah claimed 2 for 24 with nine dot balls and formed a formidable pair with T20I debutant Prasidh Krishna (2/32) to restrict Ireland to 139 for 7 after opting to bowl. Bumrah was making a comeback after 11 months since lower back stress fractures pushed him to the sidelines. However, there was a moment in the where Bumrah could have injured himself. It happened in the 14th over by Washington Sundar, as Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi chased a ball to the boundary.
With leg-spinner Bishnoi diving from a different direction, Bumrah had to jump over him to avoid a contact. Bishnoi even gestured funnily towards after the incident.
— No-No-Crix (@Hanji_CricDekho) August 18, 2023
Talking about the match, things looked bleak for the hosts after they were down 59 for 6 in the 11th over but their No 8 Barry McCarthy produced an amazing recovery, blazing his way to a 33-ball 51 not out (4×4, 4×6) to lift their total to a respectable 139 for 7.
He stitched a seventh wicket 57-run partnership with Curtis Campher (39) as Ireland reeled off 54 runs in the last five overs, losing just one wicket.
McCarthy was the stand out batter for the hosts as he reached his maiden half-century with a last-ball six off Arshdeep Singh who leaked 22 runs in the last over with McCarthy going hammers and tongs with two sixes and a four.
Chasing the tricky target under overcast conditions, India were off to a fluent start with Yashasvi Jaiswal (24; 23b) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (19 not out) putting together 46 runs in 6.2 overs.
But Craig Young produced a double blow, taking the left-handed duo of Jaiswal and Tilak Varma who was out for a golden duck.
India vice-captain Gaikwad, however, showed maturity and watched through the tricky phased, well aware that they were ahead of the DLS par score.
There was no stopping rain as umpires decided to call off the game at 6.15pm local time with India taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The victory also saw India return to winning ways after they went down 2-3 in the T20I series in the West Indies.
The second T20I is slated here on Sunday.
All eyes on Bumrah, the Indian pace sensation did not disappoint.
He bowled with rhythm, accuracy and a lot of venom. His rhythm was a lot better, he ran fast in his run-up to generate momentum and slowly ramped up the speed gun and went on to clock 140kph in the penultimate over when he conceded just one run.
He leaked 13 runs in just one of his four overs — 16th.
Bumrah bowled up front only to see Irish opener Andy Balbirnie nudging his fuller delivery for a boundary behind square boundary.
Bumrah was quick to bounce back and knocked over Balbirnie’s off-stump with a searing inswinger.
He grabbed in-form wicketkepper-batter Lorcan Tucker in his fifth delivery to get his campaign up and running.
With PTI inputs
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