Hooda smashes century as India edge past Ireland

Hardik Pandya-led India won the second T20I against Ireland by four runs to seal the series 2-0 here in Dublin on Tuesday.
Batting first India piled up a gigantic 225/7 on the board thanks largely to Deepak Hooda who smashed a superb century. Hooda (104 off 57 deliveries), found great support from opener Sanju Samson, who scored 77 (42) in his comeback match.
In response, Ireland kept themselves in hunt until the final ball of the match as hosts reached 221/5 in their 20 overs.
Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie added 72 runs for the opening wicket before the former was cleaned up by Ravi Bishnoi on 40 (18).
Soon after his dismissal, Pandya effected a run-out as the hosts lost two wickets in quick succession.
Balbirnie was then dismissed on 60 (37).
Fast bowler Umran Malik also picked his maiden international wicket in the form of Lorcan Tucker, who was caught on 5 by substitute fielder Yuzvendra Chahal.
Hector Tucker was the final Ireland batter to depart when he was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 39 (28).
Bhuvneshwar conceded 46 runs in his four-over quota.
Harshal Patel conceded 54 in his quota. Ravi Bishnoi and Umran Malik also were a bit expensive with the ball.
Hooda, who was declared the Player of the Match for his century, said: “To be honest, I was coming from a good IPL and wanted to follow the same performance. Happy with my intent. I like playing in that manner (aggressive) and these days I am batting up the order so getting some time. Sanju is my childhood friend, always good to bat with him. Thank you to fans, the way they came and supported us.”

BRIEF SCORES:
India 225 for 7 (Hooda 104, Samson 77, Adair 3-42) beat Ireland 221 for 5 (Balbirnie 60, Stirling 40, Tector 39, Dockrell 34*, Bishnoi 1-41) by four runs