Hello and welcome to the live Blog of Match 8. It's the turn of India and Ireland to begin their campaigns in this tournament, and they'll do so at Nassau County where the pitch was the big talking point in the last game here a few days ago. The drop-in pitch used for the game between South Africa and Sri Lanka came under much scrutiny as it proved to be a minefield for the batters. Hopefully conditions will be much better for some T20 action today.

Toss Update -Toss Update -

India have won the toss and have opted to field

India (Playing XI):India (Playing XI):

Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Ireland (Playing XI):Ireland (Playing XI):

Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Benjamin White

Pitch Report -Pitch Report -

63 meters square boundary on one side, 72 on the other, and 74 meters straight boundary. Outfield, which was sluggish in last game, has been given an extra cut. Surface looks okay. It's pitch number four, SA-SL was on pitch number one. 180 was scored by India in the warm-up game here.

Preview -Preview -

While on paper, Ireland are not an opposition that can give sleepless nights to India but the uncertainty of the pitch conditions has added a new dimension to the contest. It nullifies the experience and the strengths of the Indian side. Despite recent victory over Pakistan and the triumph over eventual champions England in the last World Cup, the Paul Stirling-led team may find Indians to be an inexhaustible force, against whom they have never won in their seven face-offs. But it is unlikely to be a straightforward contest, unless the drop-in pitch, prepared in Florida with expertise imported from South Australia, plays true. Ireland, though, would hope it won't.

Thanks to everyone for your consistent support for the live blog...