India beat Ireland by 33 runs in the second T20I in Dublin to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The hero of this victory for Team India was Rinku Singh, who played a stormy innings of 38 runs off 21 balls. But in the last overs he also got full support from Shivam Dubey, due to which he managed to turn the match around. At one point it looked like Team India could only reach 160-170, but due to the havoc of Rinku and Dubey, India only managed to put 185 runs on the board. These few extra runs put the pressure on the hosts and they could manage only 152 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Let us tell you that India scored a total of 42 runs in the last two overs of their innings. This is the second best run scored by Team India in the 19th and 20th overs. Let’s see how Rinku and Dubey turned the match around.
India’s score after the 18th over was 143 for the loss of 4 wickets. At that time, Rinku Singh was struggling with 15 runs in 15 balls and Shivam Dube 7 runs in 11 balls. Both the batsmen were hitting shots with full strength, but the ball was not climbing well on their bats. India’s score in the last three overs was just 14 runs. In such a situation, it seemed that even if India reached a score of 160-65 in the last two overs, it would be enough.
But the last two overs proved to be a match-changer for Team India when the runs started to rain from the bat of Rinku Singh and Shivam Dubey. Rinku first remanded McCarthy in the 19th over. McCarthy had earlier bowled very economically, taking two wickets for 14 runs in his first three overs.
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McCarthy’s second ball took the edge of Rinku Singh’s bat and went over the boundary towards third man. As Rinku opened his hand, the ball hit loudly. After this, he announced that he had made it to international cricket by hitting a six off the very next ball. McCarthy was on the back foot after conceding 10 runs in two balls. Under pressure, he bowled the next two balls wide, after which he made a few changes in the field, but his fortunes did not change. This time Rinku collected 6 runs by taking the fourth half volley ball outside the boundary in the direction of the covers. In the 19th over, India scored 22 runs with 3 boundaries.
After the 19th over, Rinku Singh was 32 off 19 balls and Shivam Dube was playing on a personal score of 9 runs off 13 balls. Rinku had done her job, now it was Dube’s turn. The explosive left-handed batsman also changed colors in the last over. Mark Adair hit two back-to-back sixes in the first two balls to score 12 runs. Dubey took a single off the third ball and Rinku took the next ball over the boundary line. After scoring 22 runs in the 19th over, India collected 20 runs in the 20th over.
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This was the second most runs added by India in the last 2 overs in the history of T20 cricket. India scored a total of 47 runs in the 19th and 20th overs against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
Most runs by India in the last 2 overs of a T20I match
47 runs – IND vs ENG, 2007
42 runs – IND vs IRE, 2023*
42 runs – IND vs WI, 2022