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

Update

Two wickets for Arshdeep. What an over!!!
Happy for @grayruby!!! Aha picked Arshdeep for the best bowler.
reply
There is a joke in there somewhere
reply
What joke! No, you've picked Arshdeep rightly!
reply
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.
reply
Russell Peters fan 👀
reply
Great! You've found a meaning to his name.
Alright! Ben Stokes sounds like Ben Cho... Which is a slang here...
reply
Oh I know what bhenchod means. I am well versed in Hindi abuses.
reply
Haha!!! I know you have an Indian friend there...
reply
He came prepared 🤣🤣🤣
reply

India has almost reached the target....

reply

Have you choosen kohli as the top run scorer? He is out on 1...

reply
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.
reply

Predict the exact number of overs India is gonna take ti chase this weak score?

reply
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?
reply
India hace chased it down in 12.2 overs.
reply
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?
reply

Ireland is all out on 96!!!

reply
What are the odds of India chasing this down within 10 overs? 👀
reply
India will chase it in 21 overs!!!!
reply
No i mean seriously. India will chase this down quickly. No puns intended or otherwise.
reply
Ahhh okay!!! I think it will be chased down in 14 overs ...
reply
How many overs did they take to chase?
reply

A gem of an innings from Delany!!! Ireland ....

reply

7th wicket goes down as well. Ireland is falling like a house of cards!!

reply

All of a sudden, Ireland is 46 for 6 and it's looking horrendous for Ireland.

reply

The score is 44/4.

The survival on this wicket seems very tough.

reply

IMO, Curtis Campher is the best batsmen in Irish squad. Off the mark with a rate four.

reply

Hardik has got rid of Tucker!!! Clean bowled!!

reply