USA fight back to thwart Ireland in T20I series opener
USA beat Ireland by 26 runs in Lauderhill, rallying to post a total of 188/6 after being reduced to 16/4 in the fifth over.
In reply, Ireland were held to 162/6.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, USA’s innings got off to a stuttering start when Patel (2) was caught behind off the second ball of the innings. He was the first of Barry McCarthy’s four victims (4/30) for the day, with the seamer doing much of the damage in the Powerplay. McCarthy bowled Xavier Marshall (4) in his next over and dismissed Ryan Scott (8) in his third, while Simi Singh (1/27) contributed with the dismissal of Ritwik Behera (0).
It was from here that USA fought back with Sushant Modani (50) and Player of the Match Gajanand Singh (65) putting on a 110-run stand that took the hosts to 126/5 when Singh fell to Ben White (1/36). It was a destructive innings from Singh, who belted five sixes and three fours in his 42-ball stay.
Marty Kain then picked up where Singh had left off, smashing an unbeaten 39 off 15 to propel the hosts to a big total.
Ireland’s chase hit an early roadblock as captain Andy Balbirnie fell for four to Ali Khan (2/30), but Paul Stirling put them on course with a quickfire 31 off 15 before perishing in the fifth over to Saurabh Netravalkar (2/26).
Despite an unbeaten 57 from Lorcan Tucker, USA managed to keep Ireland’s batters under control from there, with each of Khan, Netravalkar and Nisarg Patel (2/27) taking two wickets apiece.
The two teams next meet on Wednesday.
