Paul Stirling guides Ireland home against West Indies
Paul Stirling's stoic 92 runs helped Ireland pull of the first major upset of World Cup 2015 by beating West Indies by four wickets in their opening encounter which was played at the Saxton Oval, Nelson on Monday.
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Feb-2015
Paul Stirling leads Ireland's charge with a solid 92. He hit 12 boundaries in his innings • ICC
Paul Stirling's stoic 92 runs helped Ireland pull off the first major upset of World Cup 2015 by beating West Indies by four wickets in their opening encounter at the Saxton Oval, Nelson on Monday.
Ireland's captain, William Porterfield, won the toss and put West Indies in to bat first. His bowlers made the most of a lively Nelson pitch and reduced the West Indies to 31 for two in eight overs.
Even the normally aggressive Chris Gayle struggled against the moving ball. He played his slowest innings against a non-Test-playing nation, 36 off 65 balls.
George Dockrell, Ireland's slow left-arm orthodox spinner, did the bulk of the damage and claimed three wickets for 50 runs in his ten-over spell. Dockrell accounted for Gayle, Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels' wickets and left West Indies in tatters. It took a scintillating 84-ball ton from Lendl Simmons and an 89 from Darren Sammy to help West Indies post a sizeable 304.
Ireland's batsmen in reply refused to let the West Indies new-ball attack dominate. Stirling and Porterfield put on a 71-run opening stand and that set the tone for the rest of the chase.
Gayle finally broke the stand and dismissed Porterfield in the 14th over. But the Irish unit refused to give more ground to their more accomplished competitors.
Stirling and Ed Joyce combined forces for a 106-run stand for the second wicket. Stirling mixed caution with aggression throughout his innings and thumped nine fours and three sixes in his innings.
His display put his side in command and his departure, in the 28th over, didn't affect the momentum that Ireland had built up through their innings.
Niall O'brien then joined Joyce and they put on 96 for the third wicket. Despite Ireland losing wickets in the end, they managed to pip West Indies with 25 balls to spare.
"Great to get that first win of the competition and hopefully we can make it two for two in a week's time. It was a good toss to win and insert WI, we realised that and got quick early wickets," Stirling said after he claimed the Man-of-the-Match award.