India beat Ireland

Belfast, June 24:

India beat Ireland by nine wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-affected one-day match at Stormont on Saturday.

An unbroken second-wicket stand of 162 between Gautam Gambhir, 80 not out and former captain Sourav Ganguly, 73 not out saw India, set a revised target of 171 to win in 39 overs after rain delayed the start of their innings by nearly three hours, home with 25 balls to spare.

India, after winning the toss, bowled out Ireland for 193 with 18-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla taking three wickets for 29 runs, a career-best return in his second match at this level.

Ireland had been struggling at 111-6 before a stand of 48 between Niall O’Brien (52) and captain Trent Johnston (34) took the hosts towards 200. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth took 3-50.

In reply, India lost Sachin Tendulkar to the last ball of the first over, bowled by Roger Whelan. This was India’s first match of a United Kingdom tour that features three Tests and seven ODIs against England starting in July. India and South Africa face one another in three one-day internationals at Stormont on Tuesday, Friday and on Sunday.