Cricket

Ireland vs India 1st T20 Preview & Tips - India to storm into 1-0 T20 series lead over Ireland

By Site Editor

1 hour ago

Site Editor 1 hour ago

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India have won their eight previous T20's against Ireland
Ireland have lost two of their last three in the shortest format (W1)
Preview, stats & head to head

India's Ishan Kishan (Getty Images)

Ireland vs India 1st T20 Preview & Tips
Head To Head
Ireland Form
India Form

Ireland vs India 1st T20 Preview & Tips

Ireland's last Twenty20 outing came back in February as they stormed to a 96-run win over Oman as they put an end to a two-game losing run in the format.

India hammered New Zealand by 96 runs in their last T20 game as they made it four successive wins in the format.

Ireland have lost two of their last three (W1)
India have won nine of their last 10 in the T20 game (L1)

Head To Head

The pair have only met eight times in the T20 game, with India winning each game including an eight-wicket win in their last meeting.

Ireland Form

Ireland's last outing in the shortest format saw them put an end to a two-game losing run at the 2026 World Cup. Their 96-run win over Oman was a welcome return to winning ways, but this was a clash they were backed to win.

Prior to this, they had been easily beaten by Sri Lanka (by 20 runs) and Australia (by 67 runs). While Ireland are steadily improving, they are still a long way short of the very best, shown by those two defeats. Interestingly, Sri Lanka and Australia are in the upper-echelons of the game, but they are short of an India side that is arguably the best in the world right now.

While Ireland will look to throw a few punches in this one, I believe they are completely outmatched. With only two T20's in this series, I predict that Ireland will slump to a defeat in their first outing.

India Form

India have been outstanding of late, winning nine of their last 10 T20's, with the latest of these seeing them lift the World Cup following a statement 96-run win over New Zealand back in March.

Now, the world champions turn their attention back to the shortest format once again. Their series with Ireland is ultimately just a warm-up for their five T20's against England and three ODI's against the same opponent. This means that they simply have to win this one to ensure they are building momentum heading into a long month of cricket.

Shreyas Iyer will lead India in this series and I back him to build on his average of 30.67 in the shortest format. The boundaries in Belfast tend to be small, and this will have the big hitters dreaming of launching most shots into the stands. Iyer is one such player I back to go big.

Verdict

Ireland v India

I am backing Shreyas Iyer to impress with the bat as he leads India to a victory in the opening T20.

India

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Iyer 30+ Runs

Batter Milestones

@-120.48 - 1 Unit