Rain has been a constant companion of West Indies in this edition of T20 World Cup. Torrential downpour in their lung opener against Australia handed them a defeat by the virtue of the Duckworth Lewis method. West Indies did play well and piled up 191 but then lost as when it started raining the Aussies were way ahead of the par score.
In yesterday’s match they managed to restrict Ireland to 129 in 19 overs. Unfortunately for Ireland West Indies batsmen could not even face a single delivery and the match was called off. West Indies thus qualified for the super eights without winning a match and it was really unfortunate for Ireland to bow out. West Indies qualified due to higher run rate and even though were the favorites to chase the target down, Ireland would have still fancied their chances.
Here are few of the hits and flops of the match:
Ireland:
Hits:
Niall O’Brian: The veteran batsman was one of the few batsmen who looked comfortable against the West Indies bowlers. Even though he did not stay on the crease for long, but then during his stay on the crease, he made sure that scoreboard kept ticking and scored at a strike rate of more than 100. He was the top scorer for his team and scored 25 of 21 deliveries which included a six.
Paul Stirling: The opener after he lost his partner very early on in the innings showed intent against the fancied opponents and took the attack on to them. He played well for his 16 balls 19 runs before being caught by Chris Gayle off Darren Sammy’s bowling. His knock was laced with thee fours.
Flops:
William Porterfield: One of the senior players of the team, Porterfield failed miserably in the tournament. After getting out for duck in the last match against Australia, it looked like he would try and make amends for it but then he could not. He was out first ball of the match giving a huge set back to Irish innings.
West Indies:
Hits:
Chris Gayle: One can just not keep this man out of action. If in the last match, he took enticed everyone with power hitting, then in the match against Ireland yesterday he entertained with the ball. He was the pick of the West Indies bowling and returned with figures of 2-21 in three overs.
Flops:
Andre Russell: He was the most expensive bowler for West Indies yesterday. On a day when Irish batting was struggling for every run they scored, Russell gave away 19 runs in his spell of two overs.
By Indian Sports News Network
