India defeated Ireland by 4 runs in the second and final T20 in Dublin on Tuesday to win the series 2-0.

Indian skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bat first. Despite losing Ishan Kishan (3) early, India managed to put up a huge total of 227 for 7, thanks to Deepak Hooda (104 off 57 balls) and Sanju Samson (77 off 42 balls), who shared a partnership of 176 runs off just 85 balls.

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India then restricted Ireland to 221 for five. Skipper Andy Balbirnie top-scored for the side with 60 while opener Paul Stirling contributed 40. Harry Tector and George Dockrell chipped in with 39 and 34 not out respectively.

For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Umrah Malik 1 wicket each. 

“We are all pretty good, we did a lot of good stuff with the bat. We wanted to express and we did that. Bitterly disappointed, a bitter pill to swallow. We wanted to make use of the powerplay and Paul did that brilliantly. He set the tone and I took some time. Our T20 cricket has been up and down. That sort of game is something what we want to do. We’ve gone toe to toe against a very good team. We can’t let this be a flash in the pan,” Andy Balbirnie said at the presentation ceremony. 

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Brief Scores: India: 225 for 7 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 104, Sanju Samson 77; Mark Adair 3/42, Josh Little 2/38, Craig Young 2/35).

Ireland: 221 for 5 in 20 overs (Paul Stirling 40, Andrew Balbirnie 60, Harry Tector 39; George Dockrell 34 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 1/41, Umran Malik 1/42).