Ireland annihilated the West Indies with a nine-wicket Group B ‘must win’ at picturesque Hobart’s Bellerive Oval on Friday, romping through to the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
The two-time world champions just had no answer to Ireland’s bowling attack, especially by Gareth Delaney who notched up three wickets for a mere 16 runs in four overs. That included no less than 12 dot balls, easily his best performance ever for his team.
The Irish attack restricted the Windies to a modest 146 runs, in spite of a ‘royal knock’ of 62 not out by Brandon King. But the rest of captain Nicholas Pooran’s side just fell by the wayside in dribs and drabs, scoring mostly in one’s and two’s. The Irish bowlers stifled them and managed an incredible 45 dot balls.
- In stark contrast, the Irish came out firing with captain Andrew Balberie and his vice, Paul Stirling, smashing balls out of the park in the power play.
- Crickey! They scored 31 in the first three overs alone!
- They continued to score 64 in the six-over power play, the highest so far in the World Cup.
- The performance earned them a standing ovation from the Irish spectators.
The Windies breakthrough came after a 73-run partnership, ironically in 7.3 overs, off a ball from Akeal Husein.
But then came Tucker… Lorcan Tucker! Windies heads dropped when he opened his batting with a fine four, going onto score 45 off 35 balls.
Ireland beat West Indies by nine wickets to knock them out of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 pic.twitter.com/oyKvyymQCt
— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022
- In stark contrast, the Irish came out firing with captain Andrew Balberie and his vice, Paul Stirling, smashing balls out of the park in the power play.
- Crickey! They scored 31 in the first three overs alone!
- They continued to score 64 in the six-over power play, the highest so far in the World Cup.
- The performance earned them a standing ovation from the Irish spectators.
The Windies breakthrough came after a 73-run partnership, ironically in 7.3 overs, off a ball from Akeal Husein.
But then came Tucker… Lorcan Tucker! Windies heads dropped when he opened his batting with a fine four, going onto score 45 off 35 balls.
Although, the West Indies did have a slight chance when they thought Odean Smith had bowled him when Tucker was on a mere 17. Alas, a replay showed that Smith overstepped and it was a no-ball. Tucker went onto punish them to the end of the match.
Ireland cricket in 2022
— Arnav Singh (@Arnavv43) October 26, 2022
Won ODI series in the Caribbean
Beat South Africa in an ODI for first time
Knocked 2 time champs West Indies out of T20 World Cup
Beat England in T20 World Cup for first time
But what a time for Stirling to find form, finishing on 66 off 48 not out.
The men in green were ecstatic, especially after their opening loss in Group B to Zimbabwe and a nail-biting win against Scotland in their second game, thanks to a late cameo by Curtis Campher (72 off 32). He wasn’t even needed this time round.
Ireland is definitely the team to watch, improving with every game so far.
Some colour: Hobart is the capital of Australia’s island state, Tasmania. A beautiful destination on the banks of the River Derwent and in the shadow of Mount Wellington. It was founded in 1804 and was the first Australian city to have a casino in 1973.
