Balbirnie’s century showed power, McCarthy’s bowling helped Ireland beat West Indies by 124 runs|

In the 1st ODI played in Dublin, Andrew Balbirnie scored a brilliant and calm century, which helped Ireland reach 303. Captain Paul Stirling supported him well in the beginning and later Harry Tector also played well. And West Indies’ batting line up could not stand in front of Barry McCarthy, and the whole team was bowled out for only 179. Ireland won the match by 124 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series.

Balbirnie’s recovery and Stirling’s attack

The match started slowly but Stirling opened his account after 13 balls and Balbirnie had also played 19 balls at one point for only 7 runs. But both made a steady recovery and together made an opening partnership of 100+. Stirling completed fifty but was immediately dismissed by Roston Chase.

Debutant Cade Carmichael did not make much impact, but Harry Tector came in and boosted the run rate. Balbirnie showed his intent by hitting 2 sixes in one over of Chase, and Tector also started a boundary spree. By the 40th over, Ireland were 220/2 and it looked like they would reach 320+, but the winds came back and dismissed Balbirnie for 112 and Tector for 56. Lorcan Tecker’s quick cameo took the score to 303/6.

McCarthy’s speed and West Indies’ downfall

Chasing 304, West Indies needed a strong start, but it never came. Brandon King played some good shots early on, but Evin Lewis’s run out was a bad signal for him. And Barry McCarthy turned the match around by dismissing Keacy Carty first, then King and Amir Jangoo. Shai Hope could not do anything and the score in the winds became 31/5.

Justin Greaves fought back a bit, scored 34 runs in 14 balls, but Josh Little did the job of that as well. And after 71/6 there was no hope left, only a 98 run partnership between Chase and Matthew Forde pulled the match a bit. But George Dockrell broke that stand and wrapped up the whole team in 13 deliveries.

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Briaf Scores

Ireland 303/6 (50 overs) – Andrew Balbirnie 112, Harry Tector 56, Paul Stirling 54, Matthew Forde 3/68
West Indies 179 all out (34.1 overs) – Roston Chase 55, Barry McCarthy 4/32
Result: Ireland won by 124 runs.