Young India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad raised his second T20I fifty in his 10th innings on Sunday in the second T20I against Ireland in Dublin.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had remained unbeaten on 19 in India’s 2-run DLS victory in the first T20I, continued batting in the same vein in the 2nd match, and this time got to reach the half-century landmark.
He creamed 6 classy fours and one glorious six in his knock of 58 runs in 43 balls that held India’s innings after the visitors lost the two early wickets of Jaiswal and Tilak Varma inside the powerplay. Ruturaj Gaikwad formed a crucial, significant partnership of 71 (49) with number 4 batsman Sanju Samson, who also batted superbly for his 40 runs knock in 26 balls.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s first boundary came via an easy tuck off the pads off Josh Little. He then hit Craig Young’s short ball over the off-side ring before hitting three fours in the three consecutive deliveries he faced from Benjamin and Young, getting his and India’s innings fired up, despite losing two early dismissals.
Ruturaj Gaikwad brought up his fifty with a superbly timed four off the bowling of Benjamin. To a full delivery from the spinner, the Indian opener bent low and swept brilliantly to pick up another boundary and raise his second T20I fifty. He then crashed Benjamin for a six over long-on.
The entertaining innings from Ruturaj Gaikwad was finally ended by McCarthy, caught at long-on.
Watch: Ruturaj Gaikwad’s classy fours against Ireland
#RuturajGaikwad – hitting boundaries 🔥 with the luck of the Irish 🍀 and the flair of an Indian 🐅#IREvIND #JioCinema #Sports18 pic.twitter.com/hKkDN87VFD
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) August 20, 2023
Ireland captain Paul Stirling had won the toss and elected to bowl first with rain around.
Ireland playing XI: Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Benjamin White
India playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ravi Bishnoi
