BELFAST: Abhishek Sharma’s quick-fire 49 went in vain as world champions India were surprisingly beaten by Ireland for the first time in international cricket, slumping to a 34-run defeat in the first Twenty20 in Belfast on Friday.

Chasing 183, Sharma gave India a tremendous start, smashing seven fours and two sixes in his 20-ball knock before being dismissed by Irish fast bowler Liam McCarthy in the eighth over.

The left-hander’s dismissal led to a flurry of wickets as India’s middle-order collapsed with Ireland paceman Matt Hollard, who was playing his first T20, picking up three wickets — Ishan Kishan, skipper Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Washington Sundar — in his four overs.

Another Ireland debutant, Jai Moondra, got two wickets in his four overs and broke the key 35-run partnership between Shivam Dube and Axar Patel, as India were bundled out for 148 in 18.5 overs, suffering their first defeat in the format since lifting the World Cup trophy in March.

“I think we scraped through that game,” Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“We had some tough periods in it but we stayed in it. And we were diligent, and we worked hard. And we were lucky to get the reward in the end.”

Earlier, Tucker scored a fifty, while Gareth Delany contributed with a well-made 49 runs as they set up a steep total for India to chase. India captain Iyer said they would look to recover from the defeat in the next game on Sunday, with Ireland leading the two-match series 1-0.

Scoreboard

IRELAND:

T. Tector c Iyer b Rana17

R. Adair c Samson b Rana12

H. Tector c Samson b Singh0

L. Tucker c Varma b Rana50

B. Calitz c Krishna b Dube15

G. Delany c Patel b Singh49

G. Dockrell c Singh b Patel19

L. McCarthy c Varma b Patel7

M. Humphreys run out2

J. Moondra not out2

EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-1, W-5)9

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs)182

DID NOT BAT: M. Hollard

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-20 (Adair), 2-25 (H. Tector), 3-30 (T. Tector), 4-51 (Calitz), 5-115 (Tucker), 6-164 (Dockrell), 7-178 (Delany), 8-178 (McCarthy), 9-182 (Humphreys)

BOWLING: Singh 4-0-28-2, Rana 4-0-24-3 (3w), Krishna 4-0-57-0, Dube 3-0-18-1 (1w), Patel 4-0-33-2, Sundar 1-0-19-0 (1w, 1nb)

INDIA:

A. Sharma c Calitz b McCarthy49

S. Samson b Moondra5

I. Kishan c Tucker b Hollard1

S. Iyer c Dockrell b Hollard3

T. Varma c Adair b Humphreys19

W. Sundar c Calitz b Hollard9

S. Dube c & b Moondra25

A. Patel c T. Tector b Delany15

H. Rana c Calitz b Humphreys8

A. Singh c T. Tector b Humphreys2

P. Krishna not out1

EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-1, W-7)11

TOTAL (all out, 18.5 overs)148

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Samson), 2-45 (Kishan), 3-60 (Iyer), 4-80 (Sharma), 5-90 (Varma), 6-100 (Sundar), 7-135 (Dube), 8-137 (Patel), 9-147 (Rana)

BOWLING: Humphreys 3.5-0-38-3 (1w), Moondra 4-0-25-2 (2w), McCarthy 3-0-29-1 (2w), Hollard 4-0-28-3 (2w, 1nb), H. Tector 3-0-22-0, Delany 1-0-3-1

RESULT: Ireland won by 34 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Matt Hollard

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2026