Ireland hammer West Indies to make the Super 12s at the T20 World Cup

Ireland thrash West Indies by nine wickets to book their place in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup… as the two-time champions are dumped out of the competition

  • Ireland faced West Indies in a winner-takes all clash on Friday in Australia
  • West Indies batted first and posted 146-5 as Brandon King top-scored 
  • Gareth Delany was Ireland’s star with the ball, taking three wickets 
  • Ireland controlled the run chase as Paul Stirling hit an unbeaten half-century
  • Ireland won the match with 15 balls to spare to book their place in the Super 12s
  • West Indies have been eliminated from the tournament after their heavy defeat 

Ireland thrashed West Indies by nine wickets on Friday to book their place in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, and dump their opponents out of the competition.

Both teams entered the match knowing that a win would take them through to the next stage of the tournament, while defeat would signal the end of the road for this year.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat first, but had a difficult start to their innings as openers Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles were dismissed in the powerplay.

Paul Strling (R) and Lorcan Tucker (L) led Ireland to an emphatic win against the West Indies

Ireland dominated Friday’s contest and have moved into the Super 12 stage of the World Cup

A steady partnership between Evin Lewis and Brandon King brought West Indies back into the game, but the former fell to all-rounder Gareth Delany in the 11th over to leave West Indies on 71-3.

Delany proved to be a thorn in the side of the West Indies middle order, getting rid of captain Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell to finish with figures of 3-16 off his four overs.

A late flourish from King saw him end the innings with an unbeaten 62 from 48 balls, but West Indies’ total of 146-5 looked light at the halfway stage.

Ireland set about chasing down 147 with Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie making aggressive starts. The pair took a particular liking to left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein as they put Ireland well ahead of the required run rate.

Gareth Delany (above) was Ireland’s star with the ball as he took three wickets

West Indies have won the T20 World Cup twice, but will play no further part this year

They had moved Ireland to 73 inside eight overs when Balbirnie finally fell to Hosein for 37 off 23 balls.

This brought Lorcan Tucker to the crease, and alongside Stirling, he kept Ireland on track for a comfortable victory.

Stirling brought up his half-century in the 12th over, and finished on 66 from 48 balls, while it was left to Tucker to hit the winnings runs over cover as he ended on 45 from 35 to guide Ireland to a famous win with 15 balls to spare.




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