Cricket World Cup : Dhawan Guides India To Defeat Ireland By 8 Wickets To Register Consecutive 5th Win
10 March, Hamilton
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan Tuesday scored his second century of the ongoing Cricket World Cup to anchor the defending champions to record a convincing 8-wicket victory over Ireland at Hamilton.
This was India’s fifth consecutive victory of this 11th edition of the tournament. It was also the 9th successive triumph for India in World Cups overall starting from a win over the West Indies in 2011, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has broken Sourav Ganguly’s record of eight straight wins which the former captain had recorded in the 2003 edition in South Africa.
Dhawan and fellow opener Rohit Sharma began the 260 runs chase with some explosive batting, with both sharing 174 runs for the opening wicket off just 140 balls.
Shikhar Dhban survived two dropped catches to achive his ton while Rohit surpassed 4000 ODI runs Monday .
While Rohit was out for 64, Dhawan made 100, his eighth ODI century. After their wickets, Virat Kohli and Ajinkhya Rahane took it from there, and successfully overhauled the target with more than 13 overs to spare and 8 wickets in hand.
Kohli was masterful and muscular from the moment he arrived at the crease, the meat of his bat finding the ball every time he popped the clutch and let loose his bat. Dhawan departed on an even 100 and Kohli helped himself to 44, and Ajinkya Rahane to 33, as India romped home with eight wickets and 13.1 overs to spare.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, Ireland were bowled out for 259 in 49 overs. Paceman Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers. He bagged 3 wickets. For Ireland, Niall O’Brien top scored with 75.
After electing to bat first, Ireland were off to a strong start as William Porterfield and Paul Stirling stitched a brisk 89 run partnership for the first wicket. They were halted by Indian spinners.
Porterfield made 67 while Stirling scored 42. Niall O Brien also contributed valuable 75.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated the Indian team on its victory.
Team India, which will now finish the group stage at the top of Pool-B, will play their final group match against Zimbabwe on Saturday.