Except for a brief early period in the match, Ireland never threatened India in their Group B match as the defending champions secured their fifth consecutive win to ensure they will top the table.
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At Seddon Park in Hamilton, India won by eight wickets and in a most convincing fashion when they chased down the target of 260 set by Ireland in the 37th over.
The win took India’s point tally to 10, with one group match remaining against Zimbabwe on March 14. That should earn them a quarter-final match against Bangladesh in Melbourne on March 19, unless the Tigers create a sensation and beat New Zealand in their final Pool A match.
For Ireland, the loss means they will now have to beat Pakistan in their final group match in Adelaide on March 15 to advance. In case of a loss, their fate will depend on the result of the UAE-West Indies match in Napier on the same day.
William Porterfield won the toss and elected to bat first. That was always going to be the plan and Ireland needed to put up a good total to have India in any kind of pressure.
But Ireland could not capitalize on a good start from their openers Porterfield (67) and Paul Stirling (42), and a run-a-ball knock of 75 by Niall O’Briend in the middle.
After looking pedestrian in the first 10 overs, the Indian bowling attack started to show the bite that have made them the surprise of the tournament so far. From 145-2 in the 32nd over, they managed to take the next eight wickets for 114 runs and bowled them out with an over to spare. It was the fifth time in five matches that India had bowled out their opposition.
In reply, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma virtually toyed with the Irish bowling attack, putting together an Indian World Cup record opening partnership of 174 runs in just 23.2 overs.
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Dhawan was lucky to have been dropped twice, both difficult catches. The first was a bowler’s back catch to Mooney when on five, and the second time to a flying Porterfield at backward point on 10 off the same bowler.
Dhawan (100, 85 balls, 11×4, 5×6) made full use of his luck and managed to get his second century in the tournament, but Sharma perished for 64 (66b, 3×4, 3×6) when looking in supreme form.
It was a rollicking partnership that kept the sell-out crowd of 10,000 spectators in festive spirit.
Sharma chopped in a Stuart Thompson delivery on to his wickets, while Dhawan fell to a brilliant catch by Porterfield, giving Thompson his second wicket.
Among the Indian bowlers, Mohammad Shami was the most successful with figures of three for 41 in his nine overs, but it was Ravichandran Ashwin’s 2-38 and Suresh Raina’s 1-40 that did the major damage.
Shikhar Dhawan was declared Man of the Match.
