India Vs. Ireland T20 WC League Match

I think India lived upto her expectations and reputation to win their rain affected final league match of 18 overs against the minnows - Ireland. The two architects of Indian win were Zaheer Khan and Rohit Sharma. A fine spell (4 for 19) from Zaheer Khan upfront landed Ireland in neck-deep trouble. He could have had a chance of taking a 5 wicket haul if he had finished his quota of 4 overs. After a tidy first over from Irfan Pathan, Zaheer got to work stright away. He finished his first over by bowling a fuller delivery that sent Bray's stump flying. He came back in his next over to force Porterfield to edge the very first ball to Yusuf Pathan who took a regulation catch at first slip. Botha then walked in with a responsibility of dening Zaheer a hat-trick which he succeded in. But Zaheer had the last laugh by getting Botha to edge the ball to slip where again Yusuf took another execellent diving catch. 5 of the Irish batsmen were sent back even before the team total had reached 50. Andrew White top scored with a cameo of 29 off 25 balls. Other than White, only 3 other batsmen could reach the double figures. Apart from Zaheer, Ojha was among the wickets again with figures of 2 for 18. Bhajji too cheaped in with a single wicket - his 'doosra' doing the trick for him. The Irish innings folded at 112 for 8. The Indian innings got off to a flying start yet again with the new pair of Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma seems to be having an affair with the opening slot as he hasn't yet failed. His unbeaten knock of 52 along with Gambhir's 27 ensured that he low scoring match would not spring up any surprises. Indians reached the target of 113 for the loss of just 2 wickets in 15.3 overs. Along with this win India finished the league with 2 wins out of 2. Both India and Ireland had already qualified for the Super Eight stage as both had beaten Bangladesh earlier. India now face the real test when they take on the West Indies on Friday and the England and South Africa on Sunday and Tuesday respectively in the Group of Death.