Rookie leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh produced tidy bowling spells as India restricted Ireland to a modest 193 in a one-day International at the Stormont ground here today.With rain curtailing the day’s play, India were set a revised target of 171 in 39 overs. At the end of 20 overs, they had overcome the early blow of losing Sachin Tendulkar (4) to notch up 90 for the loss of one wicket. Sourav Ganguly was batting on 36 with Gautam Gambhir on 43.Earlier, Chawla, who made his ODI debut last month against Bangladesh, picked up 3 for 29 and his Uttar Pradesh teammate RP Singh grabbed 2 for 36 to help the visitors gain the upper hand.Right arm pacer S Sreesanth also picked up three wickets but was expensive, conceding 50 runs.The Irish innings revolved around a defiant half-century by wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien, who struck a confident 52.O’Brien, who hit four fours in his 77-ball knock, shared a vital 48-run stand for the seventh wicket with captain Trent Johnston to boost the scoreboard which was reading a sorry 111/6 at one stage.Johnston made a relatively quickfire 34 off 44 balls including two hits over the fence. Put in to bat, the hosts struggled to get going under overcast conditions.Sreesanth provided the opening breakthrough, having Kenny Carroll caught behind when the batsman snicked a high delivery in the fourth over. But the Indian bowlers failed to exploit the conditions as William Porterfield (16) and Dominick Joyce (18) added 33 runs for the second wicket.Ajit Agarkar then castled Porterfield and Sreesanth accounted for Joyce. Chawla then struck twice to reduce Ireland to 83 leg-spinner dismissed Kevin O’Brien (13) and Gary Wilson (3) within a space of nine balls. Chawla, who had picked three wickets also in the only ODI he has played before, then sent back all-rounder Andrew White (8).But the Indians failed to deliver the killer punch and allowed things to drift. Twenty-nine extras, including 16 wides, marked the visitors’ casual approach. O’Brien, Ireland’s hero at the World Cup, capitalised on this slackness to earn his fourth half-century. With Johnston providing some much needed urgency, the tail wagged long enough for Ireland to post a total to defend.Ganguly’s 100Sourav Ganguly became the fourth Indian, after Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and 19th player overall to take 100 catches in One-Day International cricket.The former India captain achieved this feat when he caught Ireland’s Dominick Joyce off the bowling of S Sreesanth on Saturday, at Belfast. He was playing in his 292nd ODI.Other Indians with 100 catches:Mohammed Azharuddin (156 catches in 334 matches).Sachin Tendulkar (115 in 385)Rahul Dravid (111 in 243 as fielder, 86 catches in 74 matches as wicket-keeper). —Syed Pervez QaiserScoreboard Ireland ( incomplete)W Porterfield b Agarkar 16K Carroll c Karthik b Sreesanth 7D Joyce c Ganguly b Sreesanth 18N O’Brien c Sharma b RP Singh 52G Wilson b Chawla 13K O’Brien c RP Singh b Chawla 3A White c Karthik b Chawla 8T Johnston c Singh b Sreesanth 34K McCallan b Singh 4T Fourie not out 4R Whelan st Karthik b Tendulkar 5Extras (lb-12, w-16, nb-1) 29Total (all out in 50 overs) 193Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-47, 3-56, 4-75, 5-83, 6-111, 7-159, 8-168, 9-187.Bowling: Sreesanth 10-0-50-3, Singh 10-2-36-2, Agarkar 10-2-27-1, Ganguly 6-1-15-0, Chawla 10-2-29-3, Tendulkar 4-0-24-1.
