Clinical West Indies eye series win against jolted Ireland

Overview

West Indies v Ireland
2nd ODI
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Thursday, 09 January; 1pm local, 5pm GMT

West Indies' win on Tuesday further widened the head-to-head gulf between the two sides, with Kieron Pollard's men having now won eight of the nine completed games against Ireland. While Sheldon Cottrell continued to impress, Alzarri Joseph's match-winning spell of 4/32 would have pleased the management immensely, as must have the return in form of opener Evin Lewis, who powered the run-chase with a stroke-filled unbeaten 99.

Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran all failed to create an impact: a rare occurrence in recent times, but their current form would hardly bother skipper Pollard. He would, however, expect more from Brandon King, who had topped the run charts in the 2019 Caribbean Premier League, but is yet to make a mark in his short international career so far.

Ireland, on the other hand, looked rusty on their return to ODI cricket after nearly six months, as a collective batting failure presented little chance to their bowlers to make a game out of it. Each of their top four got starts, as did the keeper-batsman Lorcan Tucker, who top-scored with 31. But that, by no means, was enough to challenge the hosts. Their hopes rest on the experienced men – skipper Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, William Porterfield and the dynamic Kevin O' Brien – to give themselves a chance to take the series into the decider in Grenada.

Remember the last time

Balbirnie's decision to bat first looked good till the sixth over, with Ireland making steady progress until that point, moving along to 30/0. However, Joseph removed opener Paul Stirling for 15, marking the beginning of a batting collapse from which the visitors never really recovered. At 88/6 in the 23rd over, even 150 seemed well beyond reach, before a 54-run seventh-wicket stand between Tucker and Mark Adair provided some substance in an innings that fizzled out for 180 in the 47th over.

Ireland got rid of Shai Hope early, but once Evin Lewis unleashed his power-hitting game, striking three fours and two sixes in the final two overs of the mandatory Powerplay, it became all too easy for the home team. The visitors might've had a slight glimmer of hope when they had King, Hetmyer and Pooran back in the hut in quick succession, but Lewis continued the assault, as the hosts completed the task with 100 balls to spare.

What they said

Alzarri Joseph, West Indies bowler:"It is a really good start to the year. I have been training hard and looking to concentrate hard. Everyone in the coaching staff are helpful and I turn to them for advice. Everyone in the camp is supportive. Personally, I just want to stay focussed on my game and do whatever the captain asks me to do."

Andrew Balbirnie, Ireland captain: "We are disappointed with our dismissals throughout, but we haven’t got long until the next game, so we’ve got to dust ourselves off, regroup and come out on Thursday all guns blazing. They bowled well, but I think we still have a lot of areas to work on with the bat. There’s no reason why we can’t turn it around and look to put in a much better performance in the next game.”

Conditions

Light rains are expected in Barbados on Thursday, which might result in a delayed start or frequent interruptions later. If the weather does stay clear, teams might still look to bat first, owing to the recent history at the venue, where four of the last six games have been won by teams defending the total. Even in the first ODI, no West Indies batsman, barring Lewis, looked comfortable in the chase.