Hello and welcome to the live Blog of Match 8. It's the turn of India and Ireland to begin their campaigns in this tournament, and they'll do so at Nassau County where the pitch was the big talking point in the last game here a few days ago. The drop-in pitch used for the game between South Africa and Sri Lanka came under much scrutiny as it proved to be a minefield for the batters. Hopefully conditions will be much better for some T20 action today.
Toss Update -
India have won the toss and have opted to field
India (Playing XI):
Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj
Ireland (Playing XI):
Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Benjamin White
Pitch Report -
63 meters square boundary on one side, 72 on the other, and 74 meters straight boundary. Outfield, which was sluggish in last game, has been given an extra cut. Surface looks okay. It's pitch number four, SA-SL was on pitch number one. 180 was scored by India in the warm-up game here.
Preview -
While on paper, Ireland are not an opposition that can give sleepless nights to India but the uncertainty of the pitch conditions has added a new dimension to the contest. It nullifies the experience and the strengths of the Indian side. Despite recent victory over Pakistan and the triumph over eventual champions England in the last World Cup, the Paul Stirling-led team may find Indians to be an inexhaustible force, against whom they have never won in their seven face-offs. But it is unlikely to be a straightforward contest, unless the drop-in pitch, prepared in Florida with expertise imported from South Australia, plays true. Ireland, though, would hope it won't.
Thanks to everyone for your consistent support for the live blog...
Update
India has almost reached the target....
Have you choosen kohli as the top run scorer? He is out on 1...
Predict the exact number of overs India is gonna take ti chase this weak score?
Ireland is all out on 96!!!
A gem of an innings from Delany!!! Ireland ....
7th wicket goes down as well. Ireland is falling like a house of cards!!
All of a sudden, Ireland is 46 for 6 and it's looking horrendous for Ireland.
The score is 44/4.
The survival on this wicket seems very tough.
IMO, Curtis Campher is the best batsmen in Irish squad. Off the mark with a rate four.
Hardik has got rid of Tucker!!! Clean bowled!!