T20 World Cup 2022 West Indies vs Ireland: Who won today's match?
Ireland thumped West Indies by nine wickets in a Group B match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Friday, October 21, in Hobart to seal their Super 12 spot in emphatic style. The defeat also knocked two-time champions West Indies out of the tournament.
In a match that Ireland dominated from start to finish, they restricted West Indies to 146/5 after losing the toss and bowling first. Paul Stirling (66* off 48), skipper Andrew Balbirnie (37 off 23), and Lorcan Tucker (45* off 35) then combined to take Ireland home in 17.3 overs.
Chasing 147, Ireland were off to a terrific start as their openers Stirling and Balbirnie added 73 in super quick time. The Irish skipper made a statement of intent in the second over, swatting Akeal Hosein for a four and a six. Stirling joined the fun by muscling Alzarri Joseph for a maximum over deep midwicket.
The West Indies skipper’s decision to introduce Odean Smith inside the powerplay backfired as Balbirnie helped himself to 4,6,4 off consecutive deliveries. Big hits kept flowing from the bats of both openers as Ireland reached 64/0 at the end of the powerplay.
The excellent first-wicket stand ended when Balbirnie cut Hosein to point. Stirling carried on and reached his fifty by guiding Smith to deep third man for a boundary. In the same over, Smith had Tucker caught and bowled off a short ball, but the batter survived as the Windies pacer overstepped - the sequence of events pretty much summing up West Indies’ lackluster T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.
Following the let-off, Tucker helped himself to a couple of sixes. Ireland completed the formalities in style as Tucker clubbed Obed McCoy for a four-over cover. The unbeaten second-wicket stand was worth 77 as Ireland marched into the Super 12.
Delany three-fer restricts Windies to 146/5
Leg-spinner Gareth Delany claimed 3/16 as Ireland restricted West Indies to 146/5 after losing the toss and bowling first. Brandon King scored an impressive 62* off 48 balls for the Windies. However, the inconsistency in their batting came to the fore again as they were held to a disappointing total.
Kyle Mayers (one) perished cheaply again as he holed out to mid-off off Barry McCarthy. Johnson Charles took on Curtis Campher and slammed him for two fours and a six in the fourth over. However, he fell to Simi Singh in the next over for 24, slicing a catch to backward point.
King looked in good touch and eased his way into the 30s. However, West Indies lost out-of-form Evin Lewis at the other end. The left-hander was dismissed for 13 by Delany, skying a tossed-up delivery to long-off.
West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran briefly showed promise. He clobbered a short ball from Josh Little over midwicket for a maximum. He did last long though. On 13, Pooran holed out to deep cover off Delany.
King brought up a defiant fifty with a single at the start of the 17th over. However, it was followed by another wicket as Rovman Powell (six) slog-swept Delany into the hands of deep midwicket.
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It needed a breezy cameo from Smith (19* off 12) to take the West Indies past the 140-run mark. The big-hitter slammed one four and two sixes to provide some much-needed momentum to the innings that was crawling along. It was, however, way too little to make any impact on the end result.
West Indies vs Ireland: Who won man of the Match in today's T20 World Cup 2022 Match?
Delany stood out with the ball for Ireland. His 3/16 pretty much killed West Indies’ hopes of a good total.
On the batting front, Stirling, Balbirnie and Tucker lifted their game on the big day. King top-scored for the Windies with a valiant 62*.
Delany was deservedly picked as the Player of the Match for setting up Ireland’s terrific triumph.