‘We failed…’: Abhishek Sharma explains India’s crushing defeat to Ireland | Cricket News
New Delhi: India opener Abhishek Sharma Ireland admitted his side failed to adapt to the conditions after beating the defending T20 World Cup champions by 34 runs in the inaugural T20I in Belfast on Friday.Despite smashing a half-century, Abhishek could not prevent India from suffering their first defeat in any format against Ireland. The defeat also marked a disappointing start for Shreyas IyerIreland leads the two-game series 1-0 and captains the team.‘We had to adapt quickly’Abhishek said adapting to the conditions quickly is crucial, especially when teams have a short gap between matches.“It’s just how quickly we adapt to the conditions and that’s really important for a team because when you play back-to-back games, as a team you have to take a step forward and adapt to the conditions and whenever you go into practice or maybe get used to it, I feel like as a dominant team you have to adapt very quickly and that’s what we were trying to do today but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” Sharma told reporters after the match.Ireland made historyIreland posted a challenging 182/9 after skipper Lorcan Tucker led the way with a brilliant half-century. Gareth Delany scored 49 goals while George Dockrell’s late performance helped the home side to a strong total.Harshit Rana was India’s best bowler with figures of 3/24, while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel took two wickets each.Abhishek shines, India collapsesIndia were chasing 183 and Abhishek got off to a good start by attacking from the very beginning. He hit seven fours and two sixes to reach his fifty in just 19 balls, but got only 50 off just 20 deliveries.However, wickets kept tumbling around him. Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer all failed to make an impact while Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were unable to form a partnership.Shivam Dube briefly revived India’s hopes with a quick 16-ball 25, but his dismissal ended India’s chances of a comeback. India were eventually bowled out for 148 in 18.5 overs.Matthew Hollard and Matthew Humphreys contributed three wickets each for Ireland while debutant Jai Moondra posted impressive figures of 2/25.The series is onlineThe two teams will meet again in the second and final T20I on Sunday, with India needing a win to avoid a series defeat after a historic breakthrough victory in Ireland.
Post Comment