Ireland hammer West Indies to qualify for Super 12s

The comprehensive victory for Andy Balbirnie's charges sends the two-time world champions home early

Hobart: West Indies 146-5, Ireland 150-1 - Ireland win by nine wickets

Scorecard

Ireland have qualified for the Super 12s of the T20 World Cup, sending two-time champions West Indies packing in the process.

All four teams in Group B came into Friday knowing that the winner of each game would qualify at the expense of the loser.

Although Brandon King made a half century for Nicholas Pooran's side – after winning the toss and electing to bat – Ireland were dominant throughout, never more so than in the initial stages of their reply when Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie exploited the powerplay to break the back of the run-chase. Four overs in, both were unbeaten on 22.

For Ireland, spin did the trick; part-time leg-spinner Gareth Delany finished with figures of 3 for 16, taking the key scalps of Pooran, Evin Lewis and Rovman Powell, all of whom holed out in the deep, while Simi Singh – only utilised for two overs – accounted for Johnson Charles.

Curtis Campher was the only Irish bowler to be taken down – his two overs costing 28 runs – but otherwise Balbirnie's charges managed to keep a lid on things as West Indies struggled for any momentum.

In response, the decision not to use Jason Holder during the powerplay was perplexing, particularly when Odean Smith took the fourth over and saw his first three deliveries hammered for 14 runs. By then, Balbirnie and Stirling had already swept Akeal Hosein for boundaries in an expensive second over.

^{Ireland restricted West Indies to just 146 for 5 on an excellent pitch (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)}

There are few more watchable batters on the T20 circuit than Stirling, who crunched fours through the off-side and a six over wide long-on, but unusually he wasn't even the main aggressor. Balbirnie struck three sixes in his first 16 balls, including one over cover as Ireland put together the highest powerplay score of this year's T20 World Cup and, by extension, their highest-ever T20 World Cup powerplay total.

Balbirnie fell shortly afterwards, cutting Hosein to Kyle Mayers at backward point, but the captain had done much of the legwork. Lorcan Tucker carried on from where he had left off, nailing his second ball for four. When he was seemingly bounced out by Smith, the fast bowler had overstepped as further proof that the wheels were coming off.

In the meantime, Stirling went to fifty by guiding a boundary past third man and Tucker, who finished unbeaten on 45, planted Obed McCoy over his head for one of seven sixes hit in Ireland's innings as they inflicted a pasting on West Indies in a winner-takes-all clash.

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