Sanjeev Sooryavanshi attends India-Ireland match after Vaibhav misses playing XI:Indian-origin debutant Jai Moondra removes Samson on first ball

Ireland registered a shock 34-run victory over India in the 1st T20I in Belfast by 34 runs on 26 June. Batting first, hosts Ireland scored 182/9 and chasing a 183-run target, defending T20 world champions faltered and were bowled out for 148 runs in 18.5 overs. This is the second time that India have lost their first match right after winning the T20 World Cup, the last one being in 2024 where a team led by Shubman Gill had suffered a defeat to Zimbabwe. This defeat was also India’s first against Ireland in any format and with this, the Irish team took an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-game series. The Shreyas Iyer era in T20Is also did not get off to an ideal start. Chasing 183 runs, India struggled throughout the innings, with only Abhishek Sharma offering resistance through a fighting fifty. Earlier, Ireland put up an impressive 182/9, powered by skipper Lorcan Tucker’s half-century and Gareth Delany’s explosive 49 off 32 deliveries. From Indian-origin Jai Moondra dismissing Sanju Samson on with his first ball on debut to birthday boy Shivam Dube’s first-ball strike to Gareth Delany’s three consecutive sixes, there were quite a few top moments. Let’s have a look. IND vs IRE, 1st T20I, Top Moments 1) Sanjeev Sooryavanshi attends IND vs IRE match after Vaibhav missed out After Vaibhav Sooryavanshi being missed out from the first T20I match, his father, Sanjeev Sooryavanshi attended the game in Belfast. During the toss when Shreyas Iyer was asked about Vaibhav, he said, “He’s a gun player. But obviously, we’ve got tremendous experience in the squad who have done brilliant in the past couple of series for India. So we are backing majority of our cricketers who have been doing absolutely marvellous throughout the season.” “So I think he’outside the leg-stump get his opportunity when the time comes. But for now, we are going with three genuine seamers, one all-rounder, and two spinners,” he added further. 2) Jai Moondra took a wicket on the first ball of his debut match Irish fast bowler Jai Moondra made his international debut against India. He clean bowled Sanju Samson on the very first ball of his match. Moondra bowled a length delivery on the first ball of the second over of the Indian innings. The ball was moving away with an angle. Sanju tried to play a shot on the off-side. The ball took the edge of the bat and hit the stumps. Moondra became the second Irish bowler after Matthew Humpreys to take a wicket on the first ball of his debut match. 28-year-old Jai went to Ireland on a student visa in 2021 to pursue M.Tech studies. During this time, he worked there and received Irish citizenship in 2025. He was selected for the Ireland cricket team for his aggressive bowling and excellent batting. 3) Birthday boy Shivam Dube strikes in his first ball of the spell Shivam Dube, on his birthday, strikes for India in his first ball of the first over. He removed Ireland’s Benjamin Celitz on the first ball of the eighth over as Prasidh Krishna caught the sitter at fine leg. Apart from Shivam, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav achieved the feat in the past to take wickets in their birthdays for India. 4) Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube dropped easy catches against Ireland Despite India’s bowling dominance, Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma dropped sitters while fielding in the first innings. Tim Tector gets a lifeline as Shivam Dube dropped his catch in the third over of the play. On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma dropped a sitter of Gareth Delany at long-off in 11th over. 5) Dockrell-Delany hit 27 runs off Prasidh Krishna in 17th over Prasidh Krishna endured a nightmare over, conceding 27 runs as Gareth Delany turned the tide. After two boundaries from George Dockrell, Gerath Delany hammered three consecutive sixes off slower deliveries, finishing the over and punishing India’s pacer with a brutal late assault. 6) Axar’s strike bloodies Matthew Humphreys’ hand Axar Patel’s strike left Matthew Humphreys’ hand blooded in the second innings of this match. This happened in the 15th over when Axar hit the ball straight back at Humphreys, the bowler and the latter attempted a catch but did not manage to hold on. Later, he was attended to by the medical team. 7) Ireland debutant Matthew Hollard takes 3-wicket haul Defending 183 runs, Irish debutant Matthew Hollard rattle India’s batting line-up with a three-wicket haul in the Belfast. He deceived India’s new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar in his four-over spell, conceding 28 runs with an economy of 7.00.