
Cricket Match Predictions: Giant slayers Ireland have West Indies on the chopping block
In our new feature series - Who would have predicted that? – we are looking back at matches where there were big upsets or extraordinary individual performances that turned matches on their head.
As Ireland took on West Indies in 5th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at the Saxton Oval in Nelson, they had earned the reputation of being giant slayers on the back of World Cup wins against Pakistan in 2007 and England in 2011.
West Indies got a taste of this medicine just about at the start of the tournament. Ireland's win opened up the group and kept Ireland, Zimbabwe and West Indies in contention for the fourth quarter-final spot.
Match Summary
West Indies 304/7(50 Overs) - Daren Sammy89 (67), Lendl Simmons102 (84); John Mooney1/59 (7), George Dockrell3/50 (10)
Ireland 307/6(45.5 Overs) - Ed Joyce84 (67), Paul Stirling92 (84); Marlon Samuels1/25 (4), Jerome Taylor3/71 (8.5)
Result - Ireland won by 4 wickets
The two were well supported by Andre Russell, who chipped in with a 13-ball 27. The Irish bowlers, who were magnificent at the start and the middle, lost their line and lengths during the death overs. Ireland conceded 124 runs in the last 10 overs and were taken to the cleaners by the West Indian batsmen.
Fall of Wickets: 30-1 (Dwayne Smith, 7.3), 31-2 (DM Bravo, 8), 78-3 (Gayle, 21.2), 78-4 (Samuels, 21.4), 87-5 (Ramdin, 23.3), 241-6 (Sammy, 44.4), 302-7 (L Simmons, 49.5)
After losing the momentum in the final few overs while bowling, the Irish batters started off brilliantly. Porterfield and Stirling were very good, putting on 71 for the first wicket. However, even after their captain Porterfield departed, Stirling and Ed Joyce batted aggressively, adding 106 for the second wicket in just 86 balls. Unfortunately, Stirling got out in the nineties and the way he batted, he deserved a century.
Niall O'Brien then joined Ed Joyce at the crease and both of them thrashed Holder's bowlers to all parts of the park. They put on 96 runs together in just 11.3 overs, before Ed Joyce departed for 84. Even though the West Indies managed to pick up 3 more wickets in quick succession after that, Niall O'Brien made sure that there were no more hiccups and saw his team through. He himself finished with 79 off 60 balls.
Fall of Wickets: 71-1 (Porterfield, 13.3), 177-2 (Stirling, 27.5), 273-3 (Ed Joyce, 39.2), 285-4 (Andy Balbirnie, 41.3), 290-5 (Wilson, 43.5), 291-6 (Kevin O Brien, 44.1)
Ireland's chase was only the fifth time in World Cup history that a target in excess of 300 had been achieved by then and Ireland had three of those to their credit.
Teams
Ireland - William Porterfield (c), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Gary Wilson (wk), Kevin O Brien, John Mooney, Max Sorensen, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine
West Indies - Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Lendl Simmons, Daren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (c), Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach
Match Details
Match: Ireland v West Indies, 5th Match, Pool B, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Date: Monday, February 16, 2015
Toss: Ireland won the toss and opt to bowl
Venue: Saxton Oval, Nelson
Umpires: Richard Illingworth, Bruce Oxenford
Third Umpire: Chris Gaffaney
Match Referee: Chris Broad
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