Singh shines with bat and ball as India clinch series

India sealed a T20 series win in Ireland as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 58 and Rinku Singh’s explosive debut cameo eased the tourists to a 33-run victory in Dublin on Sunday.
After the loss of two early wickets, Gaikwad and Sanju Samson put on 71 to build the platform for India’s total of 185-5.
But they needed Singh’s 38 from 21 balls and an unbeaten 22 from Shivam Dube to up the strike rate as India plundered 42 runs from the final two overs.
That gave Ireland a mountain to climb but captain Andy Balbirnie did his best to give the home side hope with 72 from 51 balls.
However, Balbirnie was left without much support as India captain Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets each.
Mark Adair’s 23 from 15 balls was Ireland’s next highest scorer as they finished on 152-8 in 20 overs.
Singh, the Player of the Match, said: “I was confident and trying to use the IPL experience. Was trying to take the game deep. Been playing cricket for 10 years and getting rewarded for the hard work. Happy to get the Man-of-the-Match award in the first game I’ve batted in international cricket.”
Stirling, the Ireland skipper, said: “I felt we had chances and we didn’t quite take it. But we have a lot of positives from the 40 overs. Once their batters got in, they got going and were very difficult to bowl to.”
The sides meet for the final match of the series on Wednesday.
BRIEF SCORES
India 185 for 5 in 20 overs (Gaikwad 58, Samson 40, Rinku 38, McCarthy 2-36) beat Ireland 152 for 8 (Balbirnie 72, Bumrah 2-15, Prasidh 2-29, Bishnoi 2-37) by 33 runs
Series: India lead 2-0