Shikhar Dhawan's century helps India thrash Ireland

Shikhar Dhawan scored his second ton of World Cup 2015 to help India beat Ireland by a convincing eight-wicket margin in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Ireland's captain William Poterfield won the toss and chose to bat first and Poterfield and Paul Stirling got their side off to a solid start. The duo added 89 runs for the first wicket in 15 overs.

Stirling and Ed Smith's dismissal two-overs part brought Niall O'Brien to the fore. He and Poterfield added 53 for the fourth wicket. When Poterfield was dismissed in the 32nd over Ireland stood at 145.

Andy Balbirnie added 24 runs but his dismissal led to a collapse and the six Irish batsmen that followed managed just 38 runs. Ireland scored 259 in their innings.

Ireland compounded their own woes with the ball and dropped Dhawan in the third over. The let-off proved costly, as Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hit back with a vengeance.

Dhawan raced to his 50 from 54 balls and converted that into a hundred 30-balls later. He hit five fours and one six, before he was dismissed in the 28th over. Sharma too got runs and fell for 64.

The 174-run opening stand helped India inch closer to the target. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane took them home in just 36.5 overs.

"I've spent lots of time to figure out my game," Dhawan said. "I'm used to the bounce and pace and I'm enjoying my game here. Everyone has spent a lot of time here, the communication of the team has gone up. With the time boys have learned, got experience. It's lovely when we're on the field, seeing the bowlers bowling so quick and in the right areas. I always mark myself 10 out of 10 [when asked to rate his innings]. I'd say I played more creatively, I enjoyed that creativity, playing my shots, using bowlers' mind."