Ireland levelled the two-match T20I series against the United States of America after beating them by nine runs in the second match in Lauderhill. They posted 150 and restricted the USA to 141/7.
Ireland lasted a mere 18.5 overs after Monank Patel won the toss and asked them to bat. Lorcan Tucker made 56-ball 84, with nine fours and three sixes, but received little support. Curtis Campher’s 11-ball 17 was the next best score.
Barring Ali Khan, the USA bowlers were impressive, going for less than nine an over. Saurabh Netravalkar (3-33), Nisarg Patel (2-29), Yasir Mohammad (2-32) and Vatsal Vaghela (2-16) shared nine wickets between them.
We came up just short, but again great fight shown by our lads.
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 24, 2021
Congrats to Ireland on the win.
The trophy is shared and we look ahead to the ODIs post Christmas.#USAvIRE🇺🇸☘️ pic.twitter.com/ng2iEZWA2T
The USA got off to a slow start, courtesy Ritwik Behera’s 23-ball 16. Monank (26) and Gajanand Singh (22) failed to convert their starts into anything substantial. Sushant Modani (27 in 16 balls) and Nisarg (10* in 6) tried hard, but it came all too late, as they fell nine runs short of the target.
With the figures of 4-1-25-4, Curtis Campher did the most damage for Ireland. Mark Adair returned 1-25 and Ben White 1-27. The two sides will now play a three-match ODI series, starting 26 December at the same venue.
Brief scores: Ireland 150 in 18.5 overs (Lorcan Tucker 84; Saurabh Netravalkar 3-33) beat USA 141/7 (Sushant Modani 27; Curtis Campher 4-25) by 9 runs. Player of the Match: Lorcan Tucker.
Series drawn 1-1. Player of the series: Lorcan Tucker.