10 days ago I plonked my hard earned down on Ireland to win this match. They were paying $4.50 - an outrageous price - and the Windies had done nothing for... years. It was a game that I thought would be where the Irish cricket nation would takes its big steps towards Test status.
I wasn't quite correct. Or incorrect.
Once again we witnessed a skipper winning the toss and inserting his opponents. Once again, despite a good start by the bowlers, it was all let down by their bowling in the last dozen overs, and any chance of an upset was swatted away by the flailing bats of Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons.
Chris Gayle is seen to be the key to victory or defeat for the West Indies, and his batting today was cautious, as if he now believes it himself. Also apparently struggling with an injury, his 65 ball 36 was a measured response. At 5/87 though, Ireland looked a real chance of bowling them out for 150, which would have made for an exciting second innings.
However, as seems to be the case everywhere at the moment, the middle order of Sammy and Simmons consolidated through the middle overs, and then launched an assault in the final 10, which the bowling team was completely incapable of stopping or even stemming. Erratic bowling, with little evidence of a plan, was let loose again, with 124 runs coming in a trice. Once again the team batting first made over 300 - 7/304 here, with Sammy 89 off 67 and Simmons 102 off 84 - and again the match was, for all intents and purposes, over.
Shows you how much I know.
Because bugger me, it wasn't over. Ireland came out to bat, and showed amazing intent. They didn't play massive shots, they played sensibly, taking their chances. Their chances were improved dramatically by the brainless bowling of their supposedly more experienced opponents. Captain Jason Holder was steady, but the pacier Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor decided that the best form of attack was short and fast, obviously believing they could bully the Irish out. They were wrong, the shorter and faster they bowled, the more runs they went for. Chris Gayle slowed things up in the middle overs with his off spin, also snaring the wicket of Porterfield. But the Irish would not lay down. When Stirling was dismissed for a brilliant 92, Ireland was 2/177 off 28 overs. Even at this point, they needed just 128 runs off 132 deliveries with 8 wickets in hand. In the modern game, that is an unloseable situation.
And so it proved. Niall O'Brien and Ed Joyce batted superbly, increasing the run rate, and putting the Windies bowlers and fielders under immense pressure, when you would have expected the reverse to have been true. When Joyce was caught on the boundary for 84 off 67 deliveries, Ireland only required 32 runs from a further 64 balls. It had been a brilliant partnership of 96 from 69 deliveries.
Within sight of the finish line, the wheels began to wobble. Taylor picked up Joyce, Balbirnie and Wilson, before Kevin O'Brien was run out in attempting a second run, and suddenly they still needed 14 runs with only four wickets remaining. Niall O'Brien remained defiant, and three boundaries saw the team home with almost four overs to spare.
The West Indies were atrocious. Apart from Taylor and Roach's bowling, the fielding was woeful and showed not heart or interest in fighting out the contest. Misfields allow ones and two's and even boundaries. There was no excitement at wickets falling, even at a stage where you would expect that they SHOULD still believe they could pull off a huge comeback. It was amazingly disappointing, and legends at the ground such as Clive Lloyd, Richie Richardson and commentator Ian Bishop must have been heartbroken.
The result of the match is a huge fillip for Ireland, not only for their future in the World Cup, but their ambitions to gain Test status (as long as England don't try and steal all their players again...). For the West Indies, it is quite possibly the end of them as an International cricket team. How they can possibly recover from this is a question that has only one answer - they can't. For years they have been held together by wispy lengths of paper by the performances of players such as Shiv Chanderpaul. With all of their great players now retired, and anyone with a modicum of talent only interested in the monetary riches of Twenty20 cricket, the West Indies may now be a spent force. For good.
And so it proved. Niall O'Brien and Ed Joyce batted superbly, increasing the run rate, and putting the Windies bowlers and fielders under immense pressure, when you would have expected the reverse to have been true. When Joyce was caught on the boundary for 84 off 67 deliveries, Ireland only required 32 runs from a further 64 balls. It had been a brilliant partnership of 96 from 69 deliveries.
Within sight of the finish line, the wheels began to wobble. Taylor picked up Joyce, Balbirnie and Wilson, before Kevin O'Brien was run out in attempting a second run, and suddenly they still needed 14 runs with only four wickets remaining. Niall O'Brien remained defiant, and three boundaries saw the team home with almost four overs to spare.
The West Indies were atrocious. Apart from Taylor and Roach's bowling, the fielding was woeful and showed not heart or interest in fighting out the contest. Misfields allow ones and two's and even boundaries. There was no excitement at wickets falling, even at a stage where you would expect that they SHOULD still believe they could pull off a huge comeback. It was amazingly disappointing, and legends at the ground such as Clive Lloyd, Richie Richardson and commentator Ian Bishop must have been heartbroken.
The result of the match is a huge fillip for Ireland, not only for their future in the World Cup, but their ambitions to gain Test status (as long as England don't try and steal all their players again...). For the West Indies, it is quite possibly the end of them as an International cricket team. How they can possibly recover from this is a question that has only one answer - they can't. For years they have been held together by wispy lengths of paper by the performances of players such as Shiv Chanderpaul. With all of their great players now retired, and anyone with a modicum of talent only interested in the monetary riches of Twenty20 cricket, the West Indies may now be a spent force. For good.
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