Gaikwad lifts India to series win over Ireland

Ruturaj Gaikwad during his 58 yesterday. Pic/BCCI

Riding on Ruturaj Gaikwad's fifty and quickfire 40 by Sanju Samson, India beat Ireland by 33 runs in the second T20I to win the three-match series 2-0 here on Sunday.

Opener Andy Balbirnie (72) was the top run-scorer for Ireland, while skipper Jasprit Bumrah (2-15), leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (2-37) and Prasidh Krishna (2-29) claimed two wickets each.

Earlier, fine hands by Gaikwad (58, 43 balls, 6x4, 1x6), Sanju Samson (40, 26 balls, 5x4 1x6) and Rinku Singh (38, 21 balls, 2x4, 3x6) placed India in a position to wrap this series with a match to go.

Ravi Bishnoi celebrates an Irish wicket yesterday

India had won the rain-marred first T20I by two runs under the DLS method.

India started their innings in a brisk fashion through opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who made an 18 off 11 balls with a couple of fours and a six off pacer Josh Little.

But the innings failed to build on the promise as Jaiswal's attempt to pull Craig Young ended in the hands of Curtis Campher at deep.

Tilak Varma failed to make an impression in the second straight game, as this time a mistimed pull off Barry McCarthy was snaffled by George Dockrell close to the ropes.
At 35-2, India needed some solidity and momentum at the same time. The visitors gained that through Samson and Gaikwad for the third wicket.

Samson and Gaikwad milked 71 runs between them to carry India past the 100-run mark in the 12th over.

Samson, who has triggered selection discussions ahead of India's squad announcement for Asia Cup on Monday, played a nice, little innings of 40 off 26 balls that contained five fours and a six.

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Gaikwad was keen to give strike to his in-flow partner, and the Kerala player did not waste the chance either. Samson tore into Josh Little in the 11th over, hammering him for 18 runs.

An inside-out loft and a slap over covers and a guide through the cordon brought him three fours in a row.

He garnished that train of aggression with a swivel pull that fetched him a maximum over the fine leg.

However, a moment of misfortune ended his stay. Samson wanted to play leg-spinner White over the covers off a wide ball on the off-stump, but he could only manage to drag the delivery back on to his stumps.

At 105-3 in the 13th over, India had a good launchpad to get to a sizable total.

Brief scores
India 185-5 in 20 overs (R Gaikwad 58, S Samson 40, R Singh 38; B McCarthy 2-36) beat Ireland 152-8 in 20 overs (A Balbirnie 72; J Bumrah 2-15, P Krishna 2-29, R Bishnoi 2-37) by 33 runs

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