India continued their dominance in the World Cup by handing out an eight-wicket defeat to Ireland in Hamilton on Tuesday. This was India’s fifth win on the trot in the competition, also ninth successive in the World Cups for MS Dhoni.
This win has also ensured that MS Dhoni’s men will be the toppers in Pool B of the league stages with a game against Zimbabwe still to be played. However, it wasn’t as easy as the margin of win suggested after India upstaged their opposition at the Seddon Park. Ireland were off to a rousing start and it was fine bowling spells from India’s R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and part-timer Suresh Raina that restricted the opposition to a score of 259.
In reply, India chased down the winning total in style. Thanks to Shikhar Dhawan’s eight ODI hundred. It was also his second century in this World Cup after his superb knock against South Africa in Melbourne last month.
Dhawan was fortunate in couple of occasions in the early stages of his innings, but the moment he got set, there was no looking back. He toyed with the Ireland bowling. Even Dhawan’s opening partner Rohit Sharma got runs, which augurs well for India before the knock-out stages would start.
If the West Indies match had tested the Indian batting, the bowlers were challenged early on by the Ireland openers. But it was the smart bowling change and effective field placements from Dhoni that powered India to crawl back into the match. Incidentally, this was the fifth time in row that the Indian bowlers were able to get all the opposition wickets. No other team had done it earlier.
Due to lack to international exposure, Ireland were found wanting in the middle-order. However, Niall O’Brien, the wicket-keeper batsman, who showed some guts against Indian attack. Their openers — William Porterfield — were flawless too. Towards the end of the match, Virat Kohli did play some exquisite shots.
