In a landmark result that shook international men’s cricket, Ireland earned its first ever victory over India in a T20 international fixture at Belfast’s Stormont ground on Friday, just months after India secured back-to-back T20 World Cup titles. The historic upset came as India opted to rest 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose senior team debut has been one of the most anticipated events in the global cricket community following his breakout IPL performance that saw him top the tournament’s batting averages against some of the world’s top bowlers.
Ireland won the toss and chose to bat first, and got off to a rocky start, slipping to 51 runs for the loss of four wickets early in the innings. But a resilient lower-middle order fightback dragged the hosts to a competitive total of 182 for 9 wickets by the end of their 20 overs. The standout of Ireland’s batting performance was Gareth Delany, who delivered a blistering late finish, smashing three consecutive sixes off Indian paceman Prasidh Krishna before falling for 49 off 32 deliveries. Wicketkeeper-batter Lorcan Tucker, who stepped into captaincy after five of Ireland’s first-choice players picked up injuries, also contributed a quickfire 50 off 35 balls to anchor the recovery.
India’s bowling attack made an early impact, with Harshit Rana claiming three powerplay wickets to leave Ireland reeling, and finished with Arshdeep Singh taking 2 wickets for 28 runs and Axar Patel claiming 2 for 33. However, dropped catches off both Tucker and Delany proved costly for the reigning world champions, allowing Ireland to post a challenging total.
Chasing 183 for victory, India’s innings got off to a promising start via opener Abhishek Sharma, who raced to 49 off just 20 deliveries before being caught in the deep. But the visitors collapsed from there, losing regular wickets across the innings and being bowled out for 148 with seven balls still left in the chase, handing Ireland a 34-run historic win.
The day belonged to Ireland’s two debutant bowlers, who produced match-winning performances on their first senior international appearance. India-born left-arm fast bowler Jai Moondra picked up 2 wickets for 25 runs, dismissing star Indian opener Sanju Samson with his very first delivery in international cricket, then later claimed the wicket of Shivam Dube, India’s last recognised top-order batter, caught and bowled. Medium-pacer Matt Hollard was even more impressive, claiming Indian captain Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Washington Sundar to finish with figures of 3 wickets for 28 runs. Left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys matched Hollard’s return, also taking 3 for 28, despite injuring his hand while attempting a difficult caught-and-bowled chance. Strapping his hand up, Humphreys closed out the match by dismissing Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh in the 19th over, and was mobbed by jubilant teammates after the final wicket.
India entered the match as heavy favourites, having won their second consecutive T20 World Cup in March, and retained seven players from that title-winning starting lineup for Friday’s fixture. Iyer, captaining the side for this series, noted after the match that the team opted to rest Sooryavanship to stick with the proven core that delivered the world title. “(Sooryvanshi) is a gun player but we have some tremendous players who have done well for us so we are backing them. He will get his chance,” Iyer said. This was Iyer’s first T20 international appearance since 2023.
Reflecting on the upset defeat, Iyer emphasised that the result would be a key learning moment for his side. “We are not going to forget what happened and there’s a lot to learn from this game. Going to come out all guns blazing in the next game,” he added.
Ireland’s stand-in captain Tucker called the win over the world champions one of the most special results of his career, played out in front of a home crowd. “It’s pretty special to beat the world champions at home. We scrapped through the game, we had some tough periods but we stuck to it, we were diligent,” Tucker said.
The two sides will face off in the second and final T20 of the series at the same Stormont ground on Sunday, before India travels to England for a five-match series against the hosts.