Dhawan's ton steers India to emphatic eight-wicket win over Ireland in WC tie

Opener Shikhar Dhawan struck a splendid ton on Tuesday as India clinched their fifth consecutive win of the World Cup by thrashing Ireland in their Pool B tie by eight wickets in Hamilton.

Opting to bat first, Ireland got off to a promising start as skipper William Porterfield (67) and Paul Stirling (42) built a robust 89-run stand for the first wicket.

Subsequently, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni launched his arsenal of spinners as he introduced Ravichandran Ashwin to the attack in order to spoil Ireland scoring streak.

Ashwin claimed Stirling's wicket before Suresh Raina clean bowled Ed Joyce for mere two runs. iall O'Brien (75) starred in two half-ton partnerships with William and Andy Bilbirnie (24) to guide their side to a respectable total of 259 runs.

Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers for India as he captured crucial wickets of Niall, Kevin O' Brien and Alex Cusack conceding just 41 runs in his spell. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma claimed one wicket each to restrict the opposition from staging an imposing target within 49 overs.

Chasing the target, India made a steady start as Man-of-the-Match Dhawan (100) smacked his second century of the tournament and put on a massive 174-run stand with Rohit Sharma (64) for the first wicket.

However, pace man Stuart Thompson claimed the wickets of both openers before star batsman Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (33*) remained unbeaten to guide their team to victory with 79 balls remaining.

With the win, India will stay clear on top of Pool B table, whereas Ireland need to win their next encounter against Pakistan to edge out West Indies for a quarterfinal berth.