Lorcan Tucker sets sights on series triumph after 'special' historic India victory

Tucker marked his maiden match as Ireland’s permanent T20 skipper in fine style, scoring a half-century before nailing crucial calls as the hosts sealed a first-ever victory over the cricketing powerhouses in Belfast.

With the teams set to meet once again at the same venue on Sunday, Ireland have an opportunity to create a further piece of history – and Tucker insists his men are keen to seize it.

"It was pretty special,” he said on TNT Sports. “Credit to the lads, we scrapped through that game, we had some tough periods, but we stayed in it and worked hard...we got the reward in the end.

"To beat the world champions at home in the first match of the season, it’s special. We had two debutants there who put in outstanding performances.

"So much work goes on behind the scenes, everybody at Cricket Ireland is very dedicated and we want to bring results.

"A series win against India would be pretty special. The lads are mustard keen to get back here...the energy was great, the crowd was fabulous, it’s very special.”

Both Matt Hollard and Jai Moondra enjoyed dream debuts – the former picked up three wickets, including a first with just his second delivery, and the latter bowled Sanju Samson with a maiden ball in international cricket.

"(Captaincy) has started nicely for me,” added Tucker. “I think India bowled really well, bowled really good lengths and didn’t move away from them, it was challenging to hit good shots and it felt like a Test match at points.

"We (Tucker and Gareth Delany, who scored 49) tried to stay in the game, build a partnership and take our chances when they came later.

"We learnt a lot from how India bowled in their innings, we told the lads to do that as well and they showed their accuracy and ability to stay in that spot and make it challenging for their batters.

"It’s a credit to them (Hollard and Moondra) and they executed their plans.”