The first upset of the 2015 Cricket World Cup took just 3 days, and has left a West Indies team on the verge of crisis. Ireland eased their way to a resounding victory over the West Indies in Nelson with 4 wickets in hand and 25 balls remaining. The win is yet another example of Ireland’s giant killing prowess, but equally highlights the Windies uninterested approach.
Day 3 Results
West Indies v Ireland
Game three of the Cricket World Cup was an excellent example of the old sporting cliche – a see-sawing battle. Initially, all the cards were being held by the Irish as they reduced their opponents to 87/5 on the back of accurate bowling and George Dockrell’s individual brilliance. The stat that best proves the Irish were at their stifling best was Chris Gayle’s party strike rate of just 55. However, the West Indies did recover. An excellent partnership between Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons restored some competitiveness to the West Indies total and eventually propelled them to a potentially winning total of 304/7. Sammy made a hard hitting 89 and Simmons became the fifth centurion of the tournament in making 102.
Ireland set about the target with confidence and intent. A strong start was carried all the way through and only the slightest wobble at the end of the chase gave the West Indies a chance. The victory was never really in doubt as Peter Stirling, Ed Joyce and Niall O’Brien controlled the scoring rate beautifully; all posting half centuries on the way to another famous Irish Cricket World Cup win.
Ireland 307 for 6 (Stirling 92, Joyce 84, N O’Brien 79*) beat West Indies 304 for 7 (Simmons 102, Sammy 89, Dockrell 3-50) by 4 wickets
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