India all-rounder Deepak Hooda scored his maiden T20 century in the second T20I against Ireland at The Village in Dublin on Tuesday. Hooda completed his century in just 55 balls with the help of eight fours and six sixes. With this innings, he became the fourth Indian to score a century in the shortest format of the game. Earlier, only Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Suresh Raina had achieved this position in T20 cricket.
for fifty @hudaonfire
Hooda’s first fifty in T20Is
Live – https://t.co/l5jcWYMcNk #IREvIND pic.twitter.com/09SG41SmdG— BCCI (@BCCI) June 28, 2022
Although there was a short fall for India after both of them were dismissed, the Ireland bowlers did not have much to be positive at the end of the innings. Batting first, India did not have a good start, losing Ishan Kishan for just 3 runs when he was dismissed by medium-pacer Mark Adair with the help of wicketkeeper-batsman Lorcan Tucker. This brought Deepak Hooda to the crease, who was joined by opener Sanju Samson.
Both took some big hits and had some good running between the wickets. At the end of the powerplay in six overs, India were 54/1 with Hooda (26*) and Samson (24*) at the helm. The two soon shared a 50-run partnership. The two then changed their gears, further punishing the Irish bowlers. Hooda completed his maiden fifty in just 27 balls. At the end of 10 overs, India stood at 97/1 with Hooda (50*) and Samson (42*) standing. In the ninth and tenth overs bowled by Gareth Delany and Andy McBrine, 15 and 16 runs were scored respectively. Both of them shared a 100-run partnership in just 55 balls. Samson also completed his maiden T20 fifty in 31 balls.
The duo brutalized the Irish attack between 10-15 overs and amassed 80 runs in these five overs. Hooda was generally more effective as a batsman. Ireland finally got the breakthrough after Adair hit Samson with a brilliant 77 off 42 balls and ended a brutal 176-run partnership between the two. Hooda soon completed his maiden T20I century in just 55 balls, becoming the only fourth Indian to score a century in the format. Suryakumar Yadav, who was at the crease after Samson’s wicket, looked good, hit two fours and a six, but was caught behind by keeper Tucker for 15 for 5 by medium-pacer Josh Little . This brought captain Hardik Pandya to the crease. Hooda soon returned to the pavilion. Little dismissed him after scoring 104 runs in his innings of 57 runs with the help of nine fours and six sixes.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik joined Pandya at the crease. He was dismissed for a golden duck by medium pacer Craig Young. All-rounder Axar Patel was out on the very next ball for a golden duck. India went through a mini collapse at this point after Samson’s departure, losing four wickets within 28 runs. Harshal Patel was ahead at the crease and Adair soon cleaned up him. India finished their 20 overs on 227/7, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1*) and Pandya (15*) being 3/44 bowlers for Mark Adair Irish. Little and Young got two wickets each.