Hobart Tasmania: Two times T20 World Champions West Indies knocked out of tournament in qualifying round in Hobart Tasmania on Friday when Ireland made history by thrashing West Indies by 9 wickets and booking their place in the Super-12s for the first time. West Indies have now been eliminated from the T20 World Cup event.
Absolutely gutted..???? pic.twitter.com/5NKTmJTwAK
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) October 21, 2022
Opener Paul Stirling slammed an unbeaten 66 while disciplined bowling restricted the Caribbean side to 146-5, with Gareth Delany taking a career-best 3-16, before the Irish romped to their target for the loss of one wicket with 15 balls to spare in Hobart.
The Irish bowlers rarely erred, with the spinners in particular choking West Indies in the middle overs. Off-spinner Simi Singh supported Delany by sneaking 1-11 from two overs, and it was all backed up by some faultless fielding.
The Windies gained momentum by clubbing 34 from the final three overs, but Stirling and Balbirnie made a rapid start to the chase with some free-flowing strokeplay.
At 64-0 at the end of the six-over powerplay, the game felt as good as done. Although Balbirnie chopped left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein to point for 37, Stirling found another ally in Lorcan Tucker in an unbroken stand of 77.
Tucker ended on 45, hitting the winning runs to the delight of some passionate Irish fans at the Bellerive Oval.
Ireland achieved the target of 147 runs for victory by making 150 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in 17.3 overs on the basis of Paul Stirling’s unbeaten 66 and Lorcan Tucker’s unbeaten 45.
