India beats Ireland by 33 runs to win T20 series

MALAHIDE, Ireland (AP) — Ireland suffered back-to-back losses in their T20 series against India after being beaten by 33 runs in Dublin on Sunday.

The hosts were set a challenging target of 186 to chase at Malahide but came up short despite Andy Balbirnie’s 72 runs off 51 balls, meaning India has an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

“I felt we had chances and we didn’t quite take it,” Ireland captain Paul Stirling said. “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.”

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson gave the visitors the advantage, putting on a 71-run partnership before Ben White bowled the wicketkeeper for a 26-ball 40 and Barry McCarthy took his second wicket of the afternoon to dismiss Gaikwad for a 43-ball 58.

Despite losing their two big-hitters, Rinku Singh (38) and Shivam Dube (22 not out) picked up the pace to smash 55 from 28 balls. Craig Young caught Singh off Mark Adair on the penultimate ball of the innings as India finished on 185-5.

Ireland got off to a rocky start when Prasidh Krishna took the wickets of Stirling and Lorcan Tucker, who both went for ducks, in the third over and Harry Tector soon fell for seven.

Balbirnie put runs on the board for Ireland, forming a valuable partnership with George Dockerell as the opening batter smashed 35 runs from a 52-run partnership.

Arshdeep Singh brought his brilliant innings to an end in the 16th over after Balbirnie was caught by Samson before Adair hit 23 from 15 balls as Ireland finished on 152-8.

Stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah continued his comeback from the longest break of his career after a back injury, taking 2-15 off four overs.

“Feeling good,” Bumrah said of his return to the Indian team. "Today, I could run in and bowl a little faster. We wanted to put runs on the board and we thought the pitch will get slower.

"Happy to be back and couldn’t have asked for anything more."

The third T20 game is on Wednesday.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket