India vs Ireland: Hooda, Hardik lead India to a 7-wicket win in 1st T20I

After rain cut the game down to 12 overs per side, Harry Tector's not-out 64 off 33 balls helped Ireland get to 108/4.

In the chase, India was always ahead of the run rate. Ishan Kishan (26 runs off 11 balls), Deepak Hooda (47 not out off 29 balls), and captain Hardik Pandya (24 runs off 12 balls) all helped India win in 9.2 overs.

India got off to a fast start because Kishan kept up his excellent play. Kishan hit Joshua Little for a couple of fours and a six in the first over, which led to 15 runs.

Deepak Hooda came to open with Kishan instead of Ruturaj Gaikwad, which was a bit of a surprise. After a shaky start, he found his rhythm and helped Hardik win the game with a 64-run stand. Just when it looked like India would win by a lot, Craig Young got rid of Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav (0) with two consecutive balls, giving his team hope. In another attempt to hit a whole ball out of the park, the stumps of Kishan were shaking.

When Suryakumar returned to the team after an injury break, the first ball he hit seemed to go back and catch him in front of the stumps. But Hardik and Hooda kept going for their shots, and Andy McBrine's 21-run over gave India back the lead.

India vs Ireland: Highlights of the game

Hardik left after hitting three sixes, but Hooda stayed until the last ball and hit the winning four. He hit two sixes and six fours during his turn at-bat. India chose to bowl when it was cloudy, but soon after, it started to rain, pushing back the game's start by more than 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the ball talk in the first over of the game because the conditions were right. Before Ireland's captain, Andrew Balbirnie's defence was broken by an inswinger, and the clever player made the ball swing both ways.

Hardik Pandya, the captain, joined the attack in the second over. It took him two balls to get rid of the dangerous Paul Stirling. After hitting the first ball over cover, Stirling tried the same shot but got caught at mid-off. Then, in his first over, Avesh Khan had Gareth Delany caught behind, putting Ireland at 22 for 3.

India was expected to run over the other team. Still, Ireland made a strong comeback thanks to Tector, who went on the attack against the Indian pacers, including Umran Malik, who was making his debut.

The Indian fast bowler was a big deal, but he got off to a shaky start when he first went abroad.

He dragged his third ball down the leg side, and it hit Lorcan Tucker's pads (18 out of 16) on the way to the boundary. Two balls later, off a full delivery, Tector hit a beautiful straight drive. The next ball was pulled short by Malik, but Hector was ready to pull it for a six.

Tucker hit Hardik for two sixes in a row, which gave the innings even more power. The last over of the innings brought in 17 runs, putting the total over 100. Tector got a boundary from an Avesh reverse hit and then hit a full toss over deep cover for six.