Two debutants born in India and South Africa performed the headline acts for Ireland with the ball as they humbled the world champions to a 34-run defeat in Belfast on Friday. After captain Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany brought Ireland back into the game scoring 50 and 49 respectively, it was debutant pair of Matt Hollard born in South Africa and Jai Moondra, born in Rajasthan’s Tonk, who shared five wickets between them to set up a famous win.
Before they were united in the Ireland shirt, they have been playing together for Balbriggan Cricket Club’s first-tier team Leinster. Despite being amongst the oldest clubs in Dublin, Friday was the first time two players from the club happened to represent Ireland. The wait was purely worth it.
The 27-year-old Hollard, who took the wickets of Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar, walked away with the Man of the Match performance. Born and raised in Boksburg, a city known for its gold, it is where the Cornish miners first set foot in South Africa. Though he pursued cricket, he never made top flight domestic cricket in South Africa before his brother forced him to move to Ireland to pursue cricket. With several of Ireland’s first-choice attack injured and missing the series, he was handed a call-up and with his debut set in stone, he flew his family from Johannesburg for the game on Friday.
“In all honesty, I never expected this. I always knew I had it, but to have a debut against India, it’s honestly a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. My family, they’ve flown out from Johannesburg to come and visit me. It’s actually just… it’s still a bit of a dream right now, in all honesty,” Hollard said.
As the final Indian wicket fell, Hollard’s family embraced each other before the pacer joined them for a hug. Earlier, when Hollard got his cap, they were by his side before taking the seats in front of hundreds of Indian fans in the temporary stands at Stormont Cricket Club ground. “I haven’t seen them in a while, and having them over here, it’s honestly just… nothing could be better right now. Them seeing me receive my cap and them cheering me from the side there, it’s… yeah, it’s unbelievable. And to my family back home, I know all the boys are watching there, all the cousins, thank you. I know you’re supporting, and thanks for the messages. They’re drinking brandy, and I really know it’s going down there. So, yeah, thank you,” an elated Hollard said.
Moving to Ireland to play top flight cricket has been in Hollard’s mind for a while. As early as 2018, he first had plans of moving to Dublin, play club cricket which would make him eligible to play for Ireland. But life had other plans. “So I’ve really been wanting to come over to Ireland since 2019. Then COVID hit and there was a lot of complications. A lot of things happened that was a bit of a setback for me. My brother came first, and then he says, “You have to come now.” And he pulled me over here. And ever since then, Cricket Ireland has just treated me unbelievably well. They’ve backed me, and I’m just extremely grateful for them, in all honesty,” he said.
After setting foot in Dublin, Hollard would turn out for Leinster in club cricket which is part of the Balbriggan Cricket Club, which until Friday never had a single player representing Ireland. It is a club that embraces multi-culture with its members hailing from Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. Though it has been operational since 1961, it has never been able to produce an international cricketer. That long wait was over on Friday. “Honestly, you guys never knew who I was, what I did, where I came from. You guys have allowed me to come over here and play cricket. So, Balbriggan, everyone there, thank you for the support, and just thank you. Thanks for the journey,” Hollard said.
Hollard, who was overwhelmed with emotions, started on a nervy note, starting with a couple of deliveries on the leg-stump channel and the second delivery ended up getting the wicket of Ishan. The left-hander lined-up to play a flick, but the resultant leading edge was pouched by the wicketkeeper. “It’s actually funny. After that first ball, I turned to Harry (Tector) and I said, ‘The first one’s done.’ And as soon as that ball went up, I just… I honestly, I stopped breathing for a minute. And then as soon as Lorcan took it, all the emotions sort of just exploded out of me. It was really, really, really special,” Hollard said.
Before Hollard got off the mark, it was Moondra who picked up the first wicket of Sanju Samson. If Hollard’s first strike came off his second delivery, Moondra got off the mark with his first delivery in international cricket. Born and raised in Tonk, the left-arm pacer moved to Dublin to pursue a masters degree in electronics and communication. With cricket taking over the weekends, thanks to his ability to bowl fast, clubs in Dublin queued up before he chose to play for Leinster.
Debutant pair of Matt Hollard born in South Africa and Jai Moondra, born in Rajasthan’s Tonk, shared five wickets between them to set up a famous win. (X/Ireland Cricket) 
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