Ireland announced their arrival at this year's World Cup with a 4- wicket victory over the West Indies in Nelson on Monday. Such has been their progress in recent years that Phil Simmons men went into the contest as many people's favourites to win the opening joust, but the style of the victory was nothing short of sensational. Head Coach Simmons sprung something of a surprise first up- including both Andy McBrine and George Dockerell in the starting XI while there was no place for Craig Young.

Ireland won the toss and opted to bowl first - something skipper William Porterfield has shown a penchant for in the past. John Mooney and Max Sorensen shared the new ball but it was the introduction of Kevin O'Brien that was to bring the initial breakthrough- tempting Dwayne Smith (18) to hole out to Mooney to get Ireland on their way. A superb piece of fielding from McBrine then saw Darren Bravo run out without scoring as the West Indies ended the first power-play on 40-2.

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels nursed their side through the next 10 but they struggled to hurt the dominant Irish attack. Gayle looked nothing like his usual self and when he lofted one into the safe hands of O'Brien off the bowling of Dockrell for a patient 36, Ireland were on top. Two deliveries later the same bowler trapped Samuels in front for 21and he made it three in his next over when Dinesh Ramdin fell leg before for just 1.

The Windies were reeling at 87-5 at that point but the innings was rescued by a magnificent stand between Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons. Sammy was the aggressor, reaching his half century from 45 balls and despite suffering a back injury mid-way through his innings, he really upped the ante thereafter. The pair put on 154 in all before John Mooney, himself struggling with cramp, removed Sammy for 89 (9 fours and a six) as the Caribbean outfit edged in front.

Simmons, a cousin of the Ireland Coach was also in full flow by that point and he went on to drive a stake through Ireland's heart; reaching his century in the final over of the innings. He was out the very next ball for102 (9 fours and 5 sixes) as the Windies closed on an unlikely 304-7; a staggering 198 of those coming in the last 20 overs. Dockrell (3-50) was the most succesful of the bowlers with one wicket apiece for Mooney, Sorensen and O'Brien but once again McBrine (0-26 from his 10) was excellent in the context of the innings.

Ireland needed a good start in their reply and they got it as Porterfield and Paul Stirling safely negotiated the power-play overs. The openers had put on 71 and seen off some pretty aggressive stuff from the West Indies pace-men before the unlikely figure of Gayle split them up. The off-spinner tempted the Ireland skipper into an edge to the keeper, ending his stay for 23. Any thoughts that the bowling team would turn the screw however were soon blown away as Stirling and Ed Joyce retained the momentum. Both played some superb shots- adding 106 for the 2nd wicket before the former edged one from Samuels and was out just 8 short of his century (9 fours and 3 sixes).

At 177-2 Ireland were well in control and Joyce and Niall O'Brien ramned home the advantage adding 96 more for the 3rd. Joyce oozed class but having looked set to take his side home he skied one to Bravo in the deep and was gone for 84 (10 fours and 2 sixes). Ireland somehow contrived to lose Andrew Balbirnie (9), Gary Wilson (1) and Kevin O'Brien late on as they made it a little more nervy than it should have been. Niall O'Brien was still there however- some magnificent strokes in his unbeaten 79 (11 fours) as the Boys in Green won with more than 4 overs to spare.

Another wonderful day for Irish cricket and a magnificent start in the quest for a top 4 place in the Group. There was a 9-day break and a flight back to Australia before the next game against UAE.

Odran Flynn's report
As the winning boundary from John Mooney’s bat crossed the rope the camera cut to a shot of the Ireland dressing room area. Unlike the scenes of unbridled joy in Bangalore in 2011this time there were merely congratulatory smiles, pats on the pack and the occasional hug. This was Ireland declaring to the cricketing world that it is no longer a big deal for them to beat a Full Member particularly one from the lower reaches of the top ten elite. After all only a few days earlier Bangladesh had also been dispatched, albeit in a warm up match. It is only a week ago that the hammering Ireland took from Scotland had some forum contributors and professional cricket writers speculating about that result heralding the end of the “golden era” of Irish cricket.

However the people who mattered, Phil Simmons and the players, shrugged their shoulders and insisted that preparations were on target and when the bell sounded they would be more than ready to compete. And that is exactly what they did in putting the West Indies to the sword in the idyllic setting of the Saxton Oval in Nelson. Ireland’s default mode on winning the toss is to put the opposition in to bat and by and large that has been a successful strategy. This logic confounded David Lloyd who, in his early commentary spells, was adamant that as in every other match so far you bat first, score 300+ and win. Now in fairness to him in the entire history of the World Cup a total of 300+ had only ever been successfully chased four times but he may not have realised that Ireland accounted for half of those.

He wasn’t the only one surprised that you opt to bowl and then leave out the seam bowler who has been your leading wicket taker in the past six months in favour of a 21 year old off spinner who has never played an ODI against a full member. But Phil Simmons had noted that in the warm up matches Andy McBrine had only conceded 47 runs in fourteen overs and calculated that he would be a better bet on a flat wicket than an additional seamer and of course he turned out to be right. McBrine’s ten overs only cost 26 runs and the pressure he exerted led to chances been taken at the other end which was instrumental in reducing West Indies to 87 for 5. While McBrine didn’t get a wicket with the ball he produced a superb piece of fielding that resulted in him running out Darren Bravo with a direct hit. Bravo must be sick of the sight of Ireland as he got a four ball duck in 2011 and didn’t even face a ball here.

In my preview I had suggested that the key man in this West Indies squad was former skipper Darren Sammy and he was primarily responsible for bringing his side back into contention together with Lendl Simmons. After thirty overs a total of 250 looked beyond them but they blitzed the Ireland seamers turning potentially respectable figures in those more associated with T20 matches. 167 runs in the final 15 overs seemed to have swung the game in the West Indies favour as the death bowling again failed to measure up. Interestingly when Lendl Simmons was interviewed between innings he felt that his side were about 30-40 runs short of par and I have no doubt that the scintillating ground fielding was a major contributor to that.

Given that in recent matches Ireland had struggled at the top of the order a solid start was essential and William Porterfield and Paul Stirling certainly delivered. Initially the skipper was the most aggressive including a vicious pull off Roach that cleared the boundary. Although he gradually lost his rhythm the slack was taken up by Stirling who was determined not to take a backward step as he drove, cut and hooked the Caribbean speedsters to distraction. Ironically it was the slow off spin from Chris Gayle that brought about Porterfield’s downfall but it also meant that Ed Joyce arrived at the wicket. The normally sedate starter takes a while to play himself in before producing his languid classy strokes. However he was in a vengeful mood as he was determined to make up for the disappointment of 2011. There is a misconception that the loss to Bangladesh cost Ireland a place in the quarter-finals in 2011. The reality is that Ireland would have lost out on run rate even had they beaten Bangladesh and it was the defeat to the West Indies that cost them qualification for the knockout stages. He was also angry about the way the ICC had yet again decided to reduce the number of teams for the 2019 World Cup and in doing so made it extraordinarily difficult for an Associate team to qualify. Such was his determination to demonstrate the idiocy of the ICC decision that he launched into as an aggressive an innings as he has ever delivered at ODI level. As well as his trademark classy drives and cuts he marched down the wicket to the fast men and smashed them back over their head.

Stirling finally fell eight short of a well- deserved century but the pace of his 106 run partnership with Joyce ensured that Ireland were always well in touch with the required run rate. Indeed the strategy of maintaining a scoring rate that never saw the required rate rise above 6.5 was the key element in the win. Unlike the West Indies who reached their total thanks to a T20 like blast over the last 20 overs, Ireland avoided the pressure of having to score at ten or more per over at the end by attacking from the outset. The last piece in the jigsaw was Niall O’Brien who was intent on reprising his innings against Pakistan in 2007 and ended up even surpassing that epic performance. Alongside Joyce he took Ireland to within touching distance of victory as the blasted the demoralised bowling to all parts and reduced the run rate required to 3.

Although Joyce fell and there was a wobble when three further wickets went in a heap Niall ensured that all the work done would not be wasted by delivering another couple of belligerent blows and Ireland were home. The subdued celebrations signalled that the only thing that mattered was the next match against UAE on the 25th in Brisbane. The preparation and intent for that match will be at least as equally intense as it was for this win. While there are issues to be addressed, such as the death bowling and which seamers to pick, there will be no resting on laurels as this squad intends to prove to any doubters that they deserve their place at the top table.

CricketEurope & Odran Flynn