Swiftly marking its victory, India beat Ireland by 76 runs in opening Dublin T20

Dublin, June 28: Swiftly marking its first win, India eased to victory by beating Ireland with 76 runs in the opening T20 International at Dublin. An incredible opening stand of 160 by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, helped India in clearing its way on the winning path last night.

Dhawan (74) and Rohit (97) plundered the Irish bowling attack although Peter Chase took 4-35 as India posted 208-4 at a sun-kissed Malahide. Ireland crumbled under scoreboard pressure despite an impressive 60 from James Shannon. The hosts finished on 132-9 with Kuldeep Yadav claiming 4-21.

It was Kuldeep Yadav's first four-wicket haul in T20 internationals and he was easily backed up by fellow spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3-38). The teams meet again at the same venue on Friday with India continuing their preparation for three T20s against England.

It was like calling of a debacle for Ireland captain Gary Wilson as he elected to field and his decision backfired as India set a big target on a slow wicket and an outfield parched by a rare Irish heat wave. A required run-rate of 10.45 soon climbed after the early dismissal of big-hitting opener Paul Stirling.

Exploiting Ireland's desperate attempts to improve their run-rate as rash shots, including the stumping of Wilson, Yadav, and Chahal dashed Irish hopes of a shock victory. Jasprit Bumrah (2-19) took the first and last Ireland wickets while the hosts will reflect on only Shannon scoring more than 12 runs.

Interesting as it was, India still has to work on their fielding areas as they had their own hiccups. India also suffered the catching hiccups with Chahal and Rohit failing to collect after skied shots from Shannon. It's an area India will aim to improve for what promises to be sterner challenges against England.