BELFAST: Ireland beat 20-over world champions India 2-0 in their two-match T20 bilateral series, as they secured a thrilling one-run win over the white-ball heavyweights on Sunday.

Ireland’s Jai Moondra and Matt Hollard dismantled the Indian batting line-up with three-wicket hauls as the visitors could only manage 153-9 after Ireland, put in to bat, posted 154-8 on a cloudy afternoon in Belfast.

The loss marked India’s first T20 bilateral series defeat since 2023.

“It’s hard to describe... it’s an amazing feeling. I’m still trying to process it,” said player-of-the-series Moondra.

Moondra dismissed Indian openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma in the very first over, and bowled captain Shreyas Iyer in the third over, leaving India reeling at 19-3.

Tilak Varma’s fighting knock of 55 brought India close to the target, and they needed eight runs to win from the last two balls, but Harshit Rana was caught trying to hit Harry Tector for a six off the penultimate delivery to seal Ireland’s win.

“Kudos to (Ireland), the way they played. Showed professionalism, had tremendous idea of how the wicket was going to play,” Iyer said.

India next visit England for a five-match T20 series starting July 1, followed by three 50-over matches.

Scoreboard

IRELAND:
T. Tector c Sharma b Rana5
R. Adair c Varma b Singh16
H. Tector c Kishan b Yadav53
L. Tucker c Kishan b Yadav15
B. Calitz c Varma b Dube37
G. Delany b Dube0
G. Dockrell c Patel b Singh19
L. McCarthy c Kishan b Yadav2
J. Moondra not out1

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1, W-3)6
TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs)154
DID NOT BAT: M. Hollard, M. Humphreys
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (T. Tector), 2-21 (Adair), 3-48 (Tucker), 4-113 (Calitz), 5-113 (Delany), 6-144 (Dockrell), 7-153 (H. Tector), 8-154 (McCarthy)
BOWLING: Singh 4-0-35-2, Rana 3-0-17-1, Yadav 4-0-22-3 (2w), Dube 3-0-25-2, Shedge 2-0-25-0 (1nb), Patel 4-0-28-0 (1w)

INDIA:
S. Samson lbw b Moondra0
A. Sharma c Hollard b Moondra0
I. Kishan run out12
S. Iyer b Moondra10
T. Varma c McCarthy b Hollard55
A. Patel c Tucker b Hollard14
S. Dube c Dockrell b Humphreys20
S. Shedge c T. Tector b Hollard1

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, NB-1, W-4)10
TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs)153
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Samson), 2-1 (Sharma), 3-19 (Iyer), 4-35 (Kishan), 5-74 (Patel), 6-109 (Dube), 7-117 (Varma), 8-121 (Shedge)
BOWLING: Moondra 4-0-32-3, Humphreys 4-0-28-1, Hollard 4-0-26-3 (1w), McCarthy 4-0-22-0, H. Tector 4-0-40-1 (3w, 1nb)

RESULT: Ireland won by one run.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jai Moondra
SERIES: Ireland won the two match series 2-0.
MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Jai Moondra

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026