T20 World Cup: Ireland beat West Indies to advance in Hobart
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup Group B, Hobart |
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West Indies 146-5 (20 overs): King 62* (48), Delany 3-16 |
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Ireland 150-1 (17.3 overs): Stirling 66* (48), Tucker 45* (35) |
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Ireland won by nine wickets |
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Scorecard. Table |
Brilliant Ireland advanced in the T20 World Cup by dumping out
two-time champions West Indies with a nine-wicket victory in Hobart.
In a winner-take-all final match of the group stage, Ireland
coasted a pursuit of 147 with 15 balls to spare.
Paul Stirling added a whirlwind 73 with captain Andy Balbirnie
for the first wicket and ended on 66 not out.
A superb bowling display restricted West Indies to 146-5, with
leg-spinner Gareth Delany picking up 3-16.
How much this result can be classed as a shock is debatable -
West Indies are far from the force that won the title in 2012 and 2016 and lost
to Scotland in their opening match on Monday, while Ireland are a Test nation
in their own right.
But it is still another famous win at a global tournament for
the Irish, who take their place in the Super 12 stage alongside heavyweights
like hosts Australia, England, India and Pakistan.
Their exact destination in the next phase will be confirmed by
the result of the game between Scotland and Zimbabwe.
Awesome Ireland advance
Ireland's reputation for claiming scalps at major events had
been on the wane - they have not made it through the first stage of a T20 World
Cup since 2009 and did not qualify for the 2019 50-over tournament.
Indeed, they were on the brink of an early exit three-quarters
of the way through Wednesday's game against Scotland, only
for a blistering turnaround to set up this high-stakes encounter with
West Indies.
From the moment West Indies won the toss and elected to bat,
Ireland were the superior side.
The bowlers rarely erred, with the spinners in particular
choking West Indies in the middle overs. Off-spinner Simi Singh supported
Delany by sneaking 1-11 from two overs, and it was all backed up by some
faultless fielding.
The Windies gained momentum by clubbing 34 from the final three
overs, but Stirling and Balbirnie made a rapid start to the chase with some
free-flowing strokeplay.
At 64-0 at the end of the six-over powerplay, the game felt as
good as done.
Although Balbirnie chopped left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein to
point for 37, Stirling found another ally in Lorcan Tucker in an unbroken stand
of 77.
Tucker ended on 45, hitting the winning runs to the delight of
some passionate Irish fans at the Bellerive Oval.
Woeful West Indies heading
home
This is an awful result for West Indies, who will not feature in
the main phase of a T20 World Cup for the first time.
They were in poor form going into the World Cup and were in
disarray before the tournament started as batter Shimron Hetmyer was dropped
from the squad for missing his flight to Australia.
Even though long-time T20 stars like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard
and Dwayne Bravo have moved on, the Windies can still call upon plenty of
players with extensive franchise experience across the globe.
They should have been favourites to advance from the group, but
instead exit because of losses to Scotland and the Irish.
West Indies would have been further outclassed had it not been
for an unbeaten 62 from Brandon King. Odean Smith, with 19 not out from 12
balls, added late impetus, yet the feeling was the Windies did not have enough
runs.
So it proved as Stirling and Balbirnie tucked into some wayward
bowling. When Tucker was caught and bowled off a Smith no-ball on 17, it
typified a dismal display and West Indies' last chance was gone.
