West Indies vs Ireland: Ireland beaten by Windies after good fightback

MOHALI: West Indies opener Devon Smith made a maiden century but his anonymous effort was overshadowed by Kieron Pollard's blitz as he bludgeoned a limited Ireland attack in Mohali to muscle West Indies to a tall total and quell the criticism over his lack of performances at the international level. It was West Indies' third win in four matches and put them in prime position for a quarter-final spot.
A fluent Ed Joyce steered Ireland's sprightly chase but they lacked the spark needed to chase down the substantial score, though for the fourth match in a row they showed they aren't out of place at the top table. They kept fighting even when hopes of a victory were lost, reducing the margin of defeat to 44 runs and ensuring that their net run-rate didn't take too big a hit.
The decision to replace the injured Chris Gayle with bowling allrounder Andre Russell meant West Indies had a long tail, and no batsman of note below No. 5. That meant Ireland would have been the happier side when West Indies crawled to 142 for 3 by the 35th over. The batsmen gambled by taking the batting Powerplay then; a wicket at that stage could have scuppered the innings, but Ireland couldn't make the vital breakthrough and were helpless as the power of Pollard helped ransack 55 runs in five overs to shift the balance of the game.