...but their batting was woeful. The match had all the ingredients of a major upset, but it required a huge effort with the bat that just wasn’t there. And the disappointment was felt, not only by the small Irish support in Providence National Stadium, but also by a number of West Indian experts who felt Ireland could have won. Amongst them was former West Indian pace bowler Colin Croft, who was scathing in his criticism of the West Indian batting, but high in praise for the Irish performance in the field.
Providence National Stadium was resplendent as the Guyanese organizers rolled out the red carpet for the opening of the ICC World Twenty20 Cup, and after a thrilling opening match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the stadium filled to capacity when the West Indies took on Ireland. The atmosphere was carnival, just like the good old days in West Indies cricket, and the West Indian batsmen took it to heart with a plethora of extravagant shots that the Irish fielders snapped up with relish. The bowlers bowled well, but they could hardly believe the number of big hits that failed to reach the boundary and fell into waiting hands. In the absence of West Indies skipper Chris Gayle, it seemed that every batsman wanted to fill his shoes with belligerent big hits, but on this showing there were none capable. Ireland restricted the West Indies to 138/9 and their elation was in stark contrast to the dejected faces in the opposing dressing-room. But all that changed within minutes of the re-start.
Skipper William Porterfied departed second ball after narrowing surviving the first, and within ten minutes Ireland were reeling at 11 for 3. There was no recovery, and although Gary Wilson (17) batted well, no other batsman reached double figures. Big Darren Sammy from St. Lucia could do nothing wrong all day. He top scored with 30 when the West indies batted, he took four catches in the outfield, and when he was asked to bowl he took three wickets! Ravi Rampaul had already done the damage to the Irish top order, but the bowling performance of the day was surely 17 year-old George Dockrell’s 3 for 16 in his four overs. He looked tremendous, and was aided by some splendid catches in the outfield.
Ireland was dismissed for 68, the second lowest score in competitive international Twenty20 cricket, and the excitement shown by the West Indian fielders highlighted their relief that they had got off the hook.
Looking at the positives from a bad defeat, we could say cricket is a game of two halves, and Ireland won one, and lost one. That’s as generous as anyone could get for a dismal batting display, but wins at this level won’t come easy, so the learning curve continues.
National Coach Phil Simmons will have his work cut out to lift morale after this shattering batting performance, but the match is now history and the next mountain to climb is England on Tuesday.
Nobody ever said it was going to be easy!
Clarence Hiles
Editor
