t20 news

Zaheer Khan’s return to wicket-taking form and Rohit Sharma’s maiden half-century as opening batsman were the two biggest gains for India in their eight-wicket victory over Ireland in the ICC World Twenty20 group A league game at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.

The game served as a warm up for the sides ahead of the tough Super Eights battles. India face the West Indies, England and South Africa in the three group E games while Ireland join Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan in group F.

After Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss in a rain-delayed match and asked Ireland to bat first, Zaheer Khan prised out openers Jeremy Bray and William Potterfield with successive deliveries in his first and second overs. Andre Botha denied him a hat-trick but the Indian left-arm paceman had him edging to slip at the end of his second over.

Zaheer returned to claim the wicket of top-scorer Andrew White (29) to a regulation catch by Dhoni and the team drew heart from the fact that Zaheer Khan looked in good form, despite having just recovered from a shoulder injury that kept out of a good part of the DLF Indian Premier League.

While left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (two for 19) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (one for 25) played their roles to perfection, India will be worried by the fact that Irfan Pathan conceded 15 runs in his third over, bowled in the death against tail-enders. Also, Ishant Sharma looked less effective when bowling first change rather than with the new ball.