India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he enjoyed bowling in the first T20I against Ireland, as the ball had a lot of swing. Blistering knocks by Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya guided Team India to a seven-wicket over Ireland, in a rain-curtailed first T20I of the two-match series, at Malahide Cricket Club Ground on Sunday. After heavy rain, the assigned 20 overs were reduced to 12 per side with revised conditions. The powerplay was from one to four overs with only three bowlers who can bowl two overs and two bowlers could bowl three overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped one wicket and conceded 16 runs in his entire three-over spell.
"Yes, I did enjoy bowling. There was a bit of swing with the new ball. It was much better to bat after 4-5 overs. Doesn't matter what format it is, if you get these kinds of wickets it is always good to bowl Test-match line and length," said Bhuvneshwar in a post-match presentation.
In the first T20I, pacer Umran Malik earned his maiden Team India cap. Bhuvneshwar feels that T20 is a format which produces many cricketers.
"Umran made his debut, few more yet to make, so we have a lot of exciting talent. This is the kind of format which produces many cricketers. The best part about our team is wherever we go people come out to support us," said Bhuvneshwar.
Coming to the match, Hooda smashed 47 runs off 29 balls while Hardik played a knock of 24 runs off 12 balls, and helped Team India to chase down the target of 109 runs in just 9.2 overs, with seven wickets in hand.
For Ireland, Craig Young was the pick among the bowlers as he scalped two wickets while Joshua Little settled with one.
Earlier in the first innings, Harry Tector's unbeaten 64 guided Ireland to 108/4 against India. while for visitors Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, and Avesh Khan scalped one wicket apiece.
With this win, India have taken a lead by 1-0, in the two-match series and both the teams will be squaring off for the second T20I on Tuesday.