MELBOURNE: On Friday, Ireland thrashed West Indies by nine wickets in Hobart to move to the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup and eliminate the two-time winners. Paul Stirling struck a brilliant half-century in that match.On a foggy afternoon at Bellerive Oval, the big redhead’s unbeaten 66 from 48 balls helped Ireland thrash a modest total of 146 for five with 15 balls remaining.
Brandon King of the West Indies scored an uninterrupted 62 runs, however the Caribbean team was eliminated from the global championship earlier than at any other point since the competition’s inception in South Africa in 2007.”Ireland deserves my congratulations for that. They batted beautifully, and I felt they bowled well tonight.”
Gareth Delany, an all-rounder for Ireland, used his legspin to take 3-16 in the final middle overs, knocking the wind out of the West Indies batters.Delany, who was honoured as the game’s man of the match, said, “It’s certainly a wonderful day for us.We are quite excited about what we can accomplish in the upcoming two weeks.
The West Indies were unable to defend their low total despite being aware of it because Stirling and captain Andy Balbirnie slammed to a 73-run opening stand before Balbirnie was caught cutting for 37.Stirling was joined in the middle by number three Lorcan Tucker, who smashed an undefeated 45 as the Irish won the Group B qualifier with ease.A few Irish supporters cheered wildly as Tucker danced down the wicket to smash Obed McCoy over extra cover for four to score the winning runs.
Despite being a regular at World Cups over the past ten years, Ireland has only twice advanced to the second round of the T20 competition—the latest occasion being in England in 2009.Ireland made an outstanding chase to defeat Scotland on Wednesday after losing their opener to Zimbabwe. Against the 2012 and 2016 winners, West Indies, they were nearly faultless.
