Press Trust of India
Nelson (New Zealand), Feb 16: Ireland justified their giant-killer tag by creating the first major upset of the cricket World Cup, shocking the West Indies by four wickets in their opening encounter at Saxton Oval, here Monday.
Chasing 305 for a win, Ireland rode on brilliant knocks from Paul Stirling (92, 84b, 9×4, 3×6), Ed Joyce (84, 67b, 10×4, 2×6) and Niall O’Brian (79 n o, 60b, 11×4) to canter home in 45.5 overs.
Stirling while scoring his seventh ODI half century was associated in two important partnerships. He put on 71 runs for the first wicket with captain William Porterfield (23) and then added a crucial 106 runs for the second with Joyce. He finally fell in the 28th over, caught behind off Marlon Samuels, but by then he had established the platform for victory.
Incidentally, Ireland have always managed to eke out an important victory in the last two editions of the tournament also. They defeated Pakistan (2007) and England (2011) and Monday’s win will no doubt once more reassert their claim to get the recognition of an official Test-playing nation.
After Stirling’s departure former England batsman Joyce added 96 for the third wicket with Niall. But medium-pacer Jerome Taylor (3/71) put some roadblocks in the Irish way after sending back Joyce in the 40th over and then picked up two more wickets in Andy Balbirnie (9) and wicketkeeper-batsman Gary Wilson (1).
Earlier put into bat, West Indies were in early trouble at 87 for five before Lendl Simmons (102, 84b, 9×4, 5×6) and Darren Sammy (89, 67b, 9×4, 4×6) rescued the Caribbean side to a decent-looking score of 304 for seven. Young left-arm spinner George Dockrell made an impact with three wickets to rattle the West Indies top-order only to be stabilised by the 154-run sixth wicket stand between Simmons and Sammy.
Scoreboard
West Indies: Dwayne Smith c Mooney b KJ O’Brien 18, Chris Gayle c KJ O’Brien b Dockrell 36, Darren Bravo run out (McBrine) 0, Marlon Samuels lbw b Dockrell 21, Denesh Ramdin lbw b Dockrell 1, Lendl Simmons c Dockrell b Sorensen 102, Darren Sammy c Dockrell b Mooney 89, Andre Russell n o 27, Jason Holder n o 0, Extras (lb-1, w-9) 10; Total (for seven wickets) 304.
Fall: 1-30, 2-31, 3-78, 4-78, 5-87, 6-241, 7-302.
Bowling: John Mooney 7-1-59-1, Max Sorensen 8-0-64-1, Andy McBrine 10-1-26-0, Kevin O’Brien 9-0-71-1, George Dockrell 10-0-50-3, Paul Stirling 6-0-33-0.
Ireland: William Porterfield c Ramdin b Gayle 23, Paul Stirling c Ramdin b Samuels 92, Ed Joyce c Bravo b Taylor 84, Niall O’Brien n o 79, Andy Balbirnie c Bravo b Taylor 9, Gary Wilson c Gayle b Taylor 1, Kevin O’Brien r o 0, John Mooney n o 6, Extras (b-4, w-9) 13, Total (for six wickets in 45.5 overs) 307.
Fall: 1-71, 2-177, 3-273, 4-285, 5-290, 6-291.
Bowling: Holder 9-1-44-0, Roach 6-0-52-0, Taylor 8.5-0-71-3, Russell 6-0-33-0, Gayle 8-0-41-1, Sammy 3-0-25-0, Samuels 4-0-25-1, Simmons 1-0-12-0.
