BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — India rested wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and lost to Ireland for the first time in men's international cricket on Friday.
Ireland was made to bat first in the Twenty20 and recovered from 51-4 to rack 182-9 at Stormont. India was all out for 148 with seven balls remaining and lost by 34 runs in its first match since winning a second successive T20 World Cup in March.
“We are not going to forget what happened and there's a lot to learn from this game,” new India captain Shreyas Iyer said after his first T20 since 2023. “Going to come out all guns blazing in the next game.”
They play a second and last T20 on Sunday at the same ground before India leaves for England and a five-game series.
The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi's senior debut for India has been hugely anticipated since he tore apart some of the world's best bowlers to top the Indian Premier League batting charts. But he was left out on Friday as India retained seven of the XI which became the reigning two-time world champions.
“(Sooryavanshi) is a gun player but we have some tremendous players who have done well for us so we are backing them,” Iyer said. “He will get his chance.”
It was Ireland's two debutants who enjoyed an unforgettable day.
India-born left-arm quick Jai Moondra and medium-pacer Matt Hollard shared five wickets.
Moondra bowled opener Sanju Samson with his first delivery and returned to catch off his own bowling Shivam Dube, India's last recognized batter. Moondra took 2-25 and would have had a third wicket off his last delivery but Harshit Rana was dropped at long-on.
Hollard took the wicket of Ishan Kishan with his second delivery on debut, plus Iyer, and finished with Washington Sundar's wicket for 3-28.
Like Ireland, India lost three wickets in the powerplay but opener Abhishek Sharma flew to 49 off 20 balls when he was out caught in the deep. Nobody else scored more than Dube's 25.
Ireland kept picking off the Indians regularly and beside Hollard and Moondra, Matthew Humphreys grabbed 3-28. Humphreys injured his hand trying to take a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Axar Patel. But with the hand strapped, he finished off the match by ousting Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh in the 19th over and was mobbed by his teammates.
“It's pretty special to beat the world champions at home,” said Lorcan Tucker, given the Ireland captaincy following injuries to five front-liners. “We scrapped through the game, we had some tough periods but we we stuck to it, we were diligent.”
Rana hobbled Ireland in the powerplay to 36-3. Ben Calitz welcomed Prasidh Krishna in his first T20 since 2023 with a pair of sixes then was caught by the medium-pacer.
Axar Patel should have had the wickets of Tucker and Gareth Delany but both were dropped. Tucker went to 50 off 35 balls and was out next ball.
Delany gave Ireland a storming finish when he hit three sixes in a row off Krishna and was out for 49 off 32 to Singh, who took 2-28. Patel claimed 2-33.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Ireland's Matt Hollard, center right, celebrates bowling out India's Ishan Kishan during the first T20I test match at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Friday June 26, 2026. (Liam McBurney/PA via AP)
Ireland's Jai Moondra, center, celebrates with team-mates after bowling out India's Sanju Samson during the first T20I test match at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Friday June 26, 2026. (Liam McBurney/PA via AP)
Ireland's Jai Moondra, center, celebrates with team-mates after bowling out India's Sanju Samson during the first T20I test match at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Friday June 26, 2026. (Liam McBurney/PA via AP)
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Ben Duckett's rapid hundred led England's stirring reply to New Zealand's 438 on day two of the series-deciding Trent Bridge test on Friday.
Duckett's 113 from 98 balls beside Jacob Bethell's unbeaten 74 platformed England to 223-2 at stumps, trailing by 215 runs.
On his home ground, Duckett romped against a depleted New Zealand attack that was hamstrung again by the forced exit of fast bowler Blair Tickner, one of three changes from the Kiwis' win at The Oval last weekend.
Tickner, while batting after lunch at the end of New Zealand's innings, was hit on the helmet by Jofra Archer and passed fit at the time. Tickner then bowled three expensive overs before tea but after tea he left the field complaining of nausea and didn't return. He was ruled out of the match by concussion and replaced by Zac Foulkes, also playing his sixth test.
Duckett was gone by the time Foulkes bowled but he entertained with his first century in just over a year. After a poor Ashes in Australia, he deliberately skipped the Indian Premier League to stay home and fix his technique in the County Championship.
Dropped on 8 by third slip Henry Nicholls off Nathan Smith's bowling, Duckett raced to 50 off 40 balls before tea, and completed his seventh test hundred after tea off 88 balls.
After hitting 18 boundaries mainly through the covers or behind square, Duckett got to three figures on a single and fist-pumped in celebration.
“You can see making a century on my home ground means a lot to me,” he told broadcaster Sky Sports. "I was quite emotional and tried to take it all in.
"I've really felt it has been coming. It's not gone my way in the first few tests (19, 33, 36, 9) but the age I am now I believe in my game and thought a score was round the corner. I nicked off on 8 and when that went down I then thought maybe it was my day. I have been working extremely hard in the last few months.”
It was the second earliest an England batter has reached a century from the start of an innings, 26.1 overs. The earliest was also by Duckett, in 25.5 overs against India in Rajkot in 2024.
Smith finally got his wicket when Duckett, looking tired, dragged on. That ended a partnership with Bethell of 179 at almost six per over.
“It's a good pitch to bat on,” Duckett said. “I knew there would be boundary options and how quickly you can score here. I didn't want to go into my shell and look for a score so just played my natural game.”
The run rate dropped as Bethell and Joe Root kept their wickets advantage to stumps. Bethell, who has faced 128 balls so far, has his best score on home soil and in the first innings of a test, and Root was 21 not out.
Earlier, England captain Ben Stokes bagged his 250th test wicket as New Zealand collapsed from 317-0 on Thursday to 438 all out after lunch on Friday.
New Zealand resumed on 361-4 overnight and Stokes, as he did on Thursday, made the day's first breakthrough by getting Daryl Mitchell to edge behind on 11.
Stokes' haul of 4-70 took him to ninth place on England's all-time list of wicket-takers. The 35-year-old allrounder is back in the team along with pacer Gus Atkinson after they were dropped for the second test at The Oval for disciplinary reasons.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir and Archer took two wickets each on another baking hot day with temperatures up to 34 C (93 F).
Emilio Gay was the only home batsman to fall before tea, caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell off Will O’Rourke for nought.
The rest of the day was the Duckett show.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
England's Jacob Bethell, right, and Joe Root walk off at the close of play afterduring day two of the Third Rothesay Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
England's Ben Duckett, right, batts during day two of the Third Rothesay Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
England's Ben Duckett celebrates reaching his century during day two of the Third Rothesay Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
England's Ben Duckett celebrates reaching his century during day two of the Third Rothesay Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
England's Ben Duckett is run out on day two of the second cricket test between England and New Zealand, in London, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
England's Ben Duckett bats on day two of the second cricket test between England and New Zealand, in London, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
