Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson combined well for India as they shared a stand of 156 runs for the first wicket against Ireland in the second T20I. Both batted brilliantly and flayed Irish bowlers to all corners of the park. While Hooda was the more dominant among the two, Samson too went after the bowlers and as a result, India powered along very easily. While Samson missed out on a century, Hooda got to his in 55 balls. They bettered the record shared by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma’s record of 165 runs which came against Sri Lanka in Indore.
| Wkt | Runs | Partners | Opposition | Ground | Match Date | |
| 1st | 165 | RG Sharma, KL Rahul | v Sri Lanka | Indore | 22 Dec 2017 | |
| 2nd | 176 | SV Samson, DJ Hooda | v Ireland | Dublin (Malahide) | 28 Jun 2022 | |
| 3rd | 134 | V Kohli, SK Raina | v Australia | Adelaide | 26 Jan 2016 | |
| 4th | 107 | KL Rahul, MS Dhoni | v West Indies | Lauderhill | 27 Aug 2016 | |
| 5th | 102* | Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni | v Australia | Rajkot | 10 Oct 2013 | |
| 6th | 70 | V Kohli, HH Pandya | v England | Ahmedabad | 16 Mar 2021 | |
| 7th | 63* | KD Karthik, KH Pandya | v New Zealand | Hamilton | 10 Feb 2019 | |
| 8th | 61 | SK Raina, Harbhajan Singh | v New Zealand | Christchurch | 25 Feb 2009 | |
| 9th | 36 | RG Sharma, Z Khan | v Australia | Bridgetown | 7 May 2010 | |
| 10th | 17* | S Sreesanth, RP Singh | v New Zealand | Johannesburg | 16 Sep 2007 |
On their way to this unique record, Hooda and Samson’s partnership became the 9th highest in all men’s T20Is, the highest second wicket partnership in all men’s T20Is and the highest partnership for India for any wicket in men’s T20Is.
This is also the second highest score against Ireland by any side. It is preceded by only 252/3 which Scotland scored.
Hooda scored 104 off 57 balls to become only the fourth Indian to hit a T20 International ton, while Sanju Samson contributed 77 off 42 balls to power India to a mammoth 225 for seven after opting to bat.
Ireland took the chase to the last over with skipper Andy Balbirnie (60 off 37), Paul Stirling (40 off 18), Harry Tector (39 off 28) and George Dockrell (34 not out off 16) shinning bright but they eventually fell short as rookie India pacer Umran Malik defended 17 runs in the final over.
Opting to bat, Hooda showed he belonged to the big stage with his scintillating stroke play, both off the front and backfoot.
While Hooda was elegant and at ease on the frontfoot, he was equally good on the backfoot, dispatching the ball over the midwicket boundary for a few sixes.
Hooda decorated his knock with nine fours and six hits over the fence.
He was ably supported by Sanju Samson, who, opening the batting in place of injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, played second fiddle but grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
Both Hooda and Samson’s strokeplay down the ground were a treat for the eyes.
Ireland made a rollicking start to their chase, with Stirling and Balbirnie sharing 72 runs for the opening wicket off just 34 balls. Stirling went hammer and tongs from the world go.
Stirling took Bhuvneshwar Kumar to task, hitting the bowler for a six and three boundaries to pick up 18 runs from the opening over.
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