Tuesday’s second Twenty20 International saw Sanju Samson return to the Men in the Blue lineup against Ireland (June 29). Sanju left nothing on the table when given the chance to wear the national jersey, there is no question about that.
However, when captain Hardik Pandya announced his starting lineup prior to the game, Sanju’s name received the greatest applause from the Dublin audience. Since Samson has had support from the public for a time, there were concerns raised on social media when the RR skipper was not selected for the most recent home series against South Africa.
Samson was also left off the starting lineup for the first Twenty20 international against Ireland, but Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury forced him to withdraw, giving the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain a berth to open the batting for India with Ishan Kishan.
Deepak Hooda became the fourth Indian to hit a hundred runs in T20I cricket, while Samson was on fire to show off his abilities as he slammed 77 runs off only 42 balls. Hooda led India to a mammoth total of 225/7 after 20 overs with a score of 104 off just 57 balls.
With 176 runs off 85 balls in Dublin, Hooda and Samson became India’s greatest T20I partnership. Additionally, the incredible pairing of Hooda and Samson rose to ninth place overall in men’s T20Is.
India won the game by limiting Ireland to 221 for five after that. Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain, led all scorers with 60, and Paul Stirling, the team’s first scorer, added 40. George Dockrell and Harry Tector both contributed, scoring 39 and 34 runs respectively.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, and Umrah Malik all claimed one wicket each for India. The first game had been won by India by seven wickets.
Brief Scores:
(Deepak Hooda 104, Sanju Samson 77; Mark Adair 3/42, Josh Little 2/38, Craig Young 2/35) India: 225 for 7 in 20 overs.
(Paul Stirling 40, Andrew Balbirnie 60, Harry Tector 39; George Dockrell 34 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 1/41, Umran Malik 1/42) Ireland 221 for 5 in 20 overs.
