Lorcan Tucker enjoyed a dream-like start to his reign as T20 captain in Belfast as he led Ireland to a 34-run victory over India, in the first of two sold out clashes over the weekend.

The new skipper couldn’t have scripted his day much better as he notched a personal half-century and then directed his inexperienced side to a first victory over the world champions in any format.

Tucker had to rescue the Boys in Green from an early collapse with a 36-ball 50 that along with all-rounder Gareth Delany’s 49 took the hosts to a worthy — if not overwhelming — 182-9.

On a Stormont pitch with good bounce it didn’t look nearly enough as India raced to 60 after five overs but Tucker’s rookie attack took wickets at regular intervals and by the time the visitors realised they were in a contest it was too late.

Jai Moondra, a left-arm seamer who was born and brought up near Jaipur before moving to Dublin to study in 2021, took a wicket with his first ball for Ireland, and Matt Hollard claimed one with his second delivery.

If Moondra was the more consistent, returning 2-26 from his four overs, Hollard showed bursts of pace and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award with 3-28.

Given their chance in the absence of injured trio Mark Adair, Josh Little and Barry McCarthy, as well as veteran Craig Young, both debutants look useful additions to the stable of seamers.

With the exception of one howler, that fortunately only cost a single, Ireland held their catches in the deep and there was a mix of joy and slight disbelief on the field and in the stands as Tim Tector clutched a skier at long on to end the India innings on 148.

“It’s pretty special to beat the world champions,” Tucker said. “We had to scrap throughout the game — and we had some tough periods — but we stuck to it.

“India bowled really well at the start and we found it a challenge to hit good shots. It was like a Test match out there for a bit. 

“Our bowlers learned from the lengths India bowled and they were dogged, and kept hitting the right spots. Credit to the lads.”

Things didn’t start perfectly for Tucker who lost the toss and then saw Ross Adair, Harry Tector and his brother Tim all fall cheaply. 

Ben Calitz spanked a glorious six over long off and top-edged another but it was the 64-run stand between Tucker and Delany that gave Ireland belief. The skipper hit five fours and two sixes, while his partner long-handled three of each.

India will probably regret not giving 15-year-old wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a debut and they will surely return to Stormont tomorrow (SUN) with more urgency looking to square the series.