WI v IRE 2020: Ireland stun West Indies by 4 runs in first T20I

Paul Stirling top-scored with a career-best 95 off 47 balls.

Paul Stirling | Twitter

Ireland pipped the West Indies by four runs in a high-scoring first game of the T20I series.

Irish openers Paul Stirling and veteran Kevin O’Brien went berserk right from the start as the duo shared a 154-run opening stand in just 12.3 overs. Stirling was at his aggressive best as he scored 95 runs off 47 balls with 6 fours and 8 sixes. However, he fell agonizingly short of his maiden T20I hundred as Hayden Walsh stopped him from getting there.

Kevin O’Brien’s knock of 48 from 32 balls was equally important for the Men in Green as none of the other batsmen to follow could get going. Only Gareth Delany (19) and wicket-keeper Gary Wilson (12) could get into double figures. Ireland scored 208/7 in their 20 overs at the National Cricket Stadium in St George's, Grenada.

WI v IRE 2020: 1st T20I - Statistical Highlights

The hosts were always at par with the required run-rate but kept losing wickets at regular intervals which hindered their ability to go big in the death overs. Evin Lewis led the Caribbean boys with a 29-ball 53 hitting 3 sixes.

Lendl Simmons (22 off 14), Shimron Hetmyer (28 off 18), Kieron Pollard (31 off 15), wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran (26 off 23) and Sherfane Rutherford (26 off 13) got starts but could not stay on the wicket for long. The game went into the final over with West Indies needing 15 runs to win and the comeback man DJ Bravo still on the crease. However, all-rounder Josh Little got the better of him.

The hosts still had hopes left as they needed 5 runs off the final delivery. It was not to be for them as Hayden Walsh missed the slog and Ireland won the match by 4 runs.

"Everyone is ecstatic, we came so close in that second ODI (lost by one wicket) and it may be affected us in that third ODI, so to show the bottle and come out against one of the top teams in T20 cricket and get a win was great for the vibe of the team," Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie said after the match.

It was definitely an important game for Ireland coming off a 3-0 ODI series loss against the Men in Maroon.

The second T20I will be played on January 18 at St Kitt's.

(Inputs from AFP)

 
 

By Sameer Deodhar - 16 Jan, 2020

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