India vs Ireland, 1st T20I stat attack: Milestones for Kishan, Bhuvneshwar; Skipper Pandya opens account

Deepak Hooda smashed an unbeaten 47 off 29 balls as India eased to a seven-wicket victory in the rain-hit first Twenty20 international against Ireland on Sunday. The opener hit six fours and two sixes in Malahide to help carry the tourists past their 109-run target to 111-3 in 9.2 overs. The match had a delayed start and was reduced to 12 overs per side. India captain Hardik Pandya scored 24 runs from 12 balls, including three sixes, and Ishan Kishan 26 from 11 with three fours and two sixes in a convincing display. Right-arm pacer Craig Young took 2-18 for Ireland in his two overs. Ireland earlier posted 108-4 from its 12 overs, after being asked to bat first, with Harry Tector top-scoring with an unbeaten 64 from 33 balls. His innings included six fours and three sixes. Ireland started badly when captain Andy Balbirnie (0) was bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-16) in the first over with only one run on the board. Ireland was 6-2 in the next over with Paul Stirling (4) caught by Hooda off Pandya, whose two overs went for a total of 26 runs. Looking back at the series opener, we take a look at some interesting numbers from the game: — Opener Ishan Kishan went past 500 T20I runs during his knock of 26 off 11 deliveries, becoming the joint-second-fastest Indian to the milestone (16) after KL Rahul (13). Former India skipper Virat Kohli also took 16 innings to reach 500 runs in the format. — Bhuvneshwar Kumar is now the holder of the record for most powerplay wickets in T20Is (34), going past Samuel Badree’s tally of 33 with his haul of 1/16 in the first T20I. — The seven-wicket win was also Hardik Pandya’s first as captain in international cricket. — Skipper Pandya, who struck a 12-ball 24 on Sunday, also has the best T20I strike rate (147.57) among Indian batters with a minimum of 500 runs. Rahul’s second in the list with a strike rate of 142.49. With inputs from AP Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.