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...
Does Ireland even have a chance?
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India is a strong team. I don't think Ireland has any chance of winning
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You can say it. But I'm cheering Ireland because I like their energy on the field.
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India’s strengths are well known… maybe Ireland have a plan to counter them..
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Well, they have never won against India before… but anything could happen!
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Yes, may be 1%. But who knows? It may the best day for Ireland Cricket???
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I think the pitch is looking good actually… slow outfield still
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I don't think so. It's not gonna improve. Pitches generally wear out as more with more matches played on the same surface.
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Yes - but it looks ok for a drop in pitch. Not going to get better.
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Yes that's what I said.
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Update

Two wickets for Arshdeep. What an over!!!
Happy for @grayruby!!! Aha picked Arshdeep for the best bowler.
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There is a joke in there somewhere
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What joke! No, you've picked Arshdeep rightly!
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Arshdeep sounds like Ass deep that’s why I said there is a joke in there.
Don’t mind me. I am just being juvenile.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
Russell Peters fan 👀
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Great! You've found a meaning to his name.
Alright! Ben Stokes sounds like Ben Cho... Which is a slang here...
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Oh I know what bhenchod means. I am well versed in Hindi abuses.
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Haha!!! I know you have an Indian friend there...
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
He came prepared 🤣🤣🤣
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
Yeah! I had chosen Kohli to score the most runs but he missed out on an easy opportunity to stack some easy runs but nvm. He'll cover it up in upcoming fixtures.
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11 sats \ 2 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
Sorry been away, couldn't watch the game and still haven't seen the scorecard but I think they've chased it around 15 overs?
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India hace chased it down in 12.2 overs.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
Impressive! Solid start from India as expected.
I'm thinking about changing my prediction btw. I think England vs India final would be in favor of India. How do I do that?
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11 sats \ 4 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
What are the odds of India chasing this down within 10 overs? 👀
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India will chase it in 21 overs!!!!
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
No i mean seriously. India will chase this down quickly. No puns intended or otherwise.
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Ahhh okay!!! I think it will be chased down in 14 overs ...
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MANI 5 Jun
How many overs did they take to chase?
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