Bloemfontein, Jan 26:
Put in to bat at the Mangaung Oval, India made the most of the good batting conditions against Ireland.
John McNally dismissed the Indian openers Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni after the two got off to starts, but Uday Saharan and Musheer Khan combined in what turned out to be a game-changing partnership.
The duo started off slowly, scoring the first boundary after more than 10 overs into the partnership, but runs came thick and fast from there as the two showcased their range of strokes.
Musheer brought up his fifty in the 34th over and Saharan followed suit soon after, making it four fifties in four outings (including two in the warm-up games) at the tournament. Both batters moved across to the off-side to exploit the fine-leg region with scoop shots.
Saharan couldn’t convert his half-century to a bigger knock as he fell attempting one of those scoop shots that had brought him success. The lack of pace and timing in the shot saw Saharan hole out for 75.
Musheer went on to complete his hundred off as many balls and raced to 118 off 106 balls before attempting a risky double that saw him finish short of the crease as the keeper took off the bails.
Sachin Dhas hit two fours and a six in the final over before Oliver Riley wrapped up the innings with two wickets in two balls. India had enough by then, though, finishing on 301/7.
Ireland openers got off to a careful start against India’s new-ball bowlers Naman Tiwari and Dhanush Gowda, so Saharan turned to Saumy Pandey’s spin for the breakthrough.
The left-arm spinner struck immediately, bowling Jordan Neill with a peach that turned past the outside edge to crash into the stumps.
With the opening created, Tiwari started banging the ball into the wicket to generate extra bounce. The ploy worked as Ryan Hunter holed out attempting a pull stroke off a short ball. Skipper Philippe le Roux nicked one behind the same over as Ireland slipped further.
Another short ball next over brought Tiwari his third as Scott MacBeth perished. Aravelly Avanish produced a sharp stumping next over off Pandey as Ireland were reduced 41/5.
Wickets continued to tumble as Ireland lost five wickets, one in each over, between overs 11 and 15. Murugan Abhishek, like in the last game, took a stunning catch at point to dismiss McNally. With Tiwari sending back the in-form Kian Hilton, India had asserted complete dominance. India completed a 201-run victory.
Tiwari finished with four wickets and Pandey three as India completed a massive victory in Bloemfontein to make it two wins out of two.
