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As ever, India head into an ICC event as the favourites with their stellar squad but they have, time and again, underperformed on the big stage. They begin this campaign against an Ireland side coming out of the other side of what has been a fairly long lull.
DATE & TIME: Tuesday 4th June, 2024 – USA – 19:30 / West Indies – 18:30 & Wednesday 5th June, 2024 – UK – 01:30 / South Africa – 02:30 / Pakistan – 05:30 / India – 06:00 / Bangladesh – 06:30 / Australia – 10:30
VENUE: Nissau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, United States
WEATHER: We have steadier temperatures throughout the day in New York on Tuesday with highs of around 25 degrees Celsius. It is expected to be sunny and dry throughout, though, with play starting at around 22 degrees Celsius, too.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – ESPN Caribbean / UK – Sky Sports / South Africa – SuperSport / Pakistan – PTV Sports & TEN Sports / India – Star Sports / Bangladesh – Disney Star / Australia – N/A
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Willow TV website / West Indies – ESPN Play Caribbean app / UK – Sky Go / South Africa – SuperSport app / Pakistan – Myco & Tamasha / India – Disney+Hotstar / Bangladesh – Disney+Hotstar / Australia – Amazon Prime Video
INDIA FORM: THE ALL STARS OF INDIA
India are the favourites but they haven’t play any T20I cricket since a three-match series against Afghanistan back in January. That shouldn’t matter for the form of their players, though, as they all head into this on the back of the end of a very high-scoring 2024 Indian Premier League campaign.
LAST FIVE: WWWWL
IRELAND FORM: IN-FORM IRELAND
Ireland recently played a three-match T20I series in Pakistan, which they eventually lost, but did take the lead in that series. After that they won what was effectively a tri-series against the Netherlands and Scotland, beating the Dutch twice and Scotland once up in Scotland with another game against the Scots abandoned.
LAST FIVE: WWAWL
INDIA BETTING ANALYSIS
The thing with India’s lack of T20I cricket of late is that it is actually difficult to predict how they will configure their battling lineup. What is expected, though, is that Virat Kohli moves to the top of the order and given the form he showed in the IPL, him to go big with a score of 50 or above is a good bet, especially on what could be a slow-ish track that suits him settling himself into the first game of a tournament.
As for the bowling, Ireland’s weakness is expected to be against the turning ball so it will therefore be dependant on who India select as to who will be their biggest weapon but Yuzvendra Chahal’s performances for Rajasthan Royals may well give him the nod and he is a prime wicket-taker for this one so 3+ wickets in the match for Chahal seems a good bet.
IRELAND BETTING ANALYSIS
Now captained by Paul Stirling, arguably Ireland’s greatest ever player, it has allowed the shackles to come off Andrew Balbirnie, his opening partner. Balbirnie went through a bad trot for a couple of years but appeared back to his best in Pakistan so his big-game expertise and improved form would represent a decent value bet to out-score his opening partner, Stirling.
Ireland have a lot of good bowlers for the surfaces we are likely to see in this tournament, such as Craig Young and Barry McCarthy, digging it into the pitch and offering lots of variation. However, we cannot look past the left-arm pace of Josh Little to be their best bowler in the match and he will be vital up top if they are to pose any threat to the Indians.
INDIA VS IRELAND EXPERT PREDICTION
This one is interesting. If Ireland bat first on what is expected to be a slow pitch and try to minimise the damage of India’s spinners and do post something remotely competitive, upwards of 160 or 170 then Josh Little gets on a roll against an Indian line-up that have, time and again, been criticised for batting too slowly, then the pressure will mount. That is the perfect one in a million game plan, though. Whilst not entirely unrealistic, India should win this one quite comfortably and likely will do – it is when the pressure is really on when questions need to be answered by the Indians.
INDIA VS IRELAND TIP: INDIA TO WIN