Stirling stars as Ireland beat West Indies

Irish Independent:

Paul Stirling brought his own heat to the spice island of Grenada with a blistering 95 from 47 balls and it was just enough to give Ireland a nailbiting four-run victory over the West Indies and a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 international series.

The powerful Ireland opener smashed eight maximums as well as six fours in a record-breaking stand of 154 with Kevin O’Brien before a middle order collapse pegged the Boys in Green to 208-7 - the sixth time they have passed 200 in the shortest format.

The reigning world champions chased strongly and looked on course when Barry McCarthy’s 18th over was dispatched for 27 but Craig Young responded with a tight set of six and Josh Little got the job done with two wickets in a pulsating finish. Ireland have beaten the West Indies at home before in 2014 but this victory was extra special, giving Andy Balbirnie his first win as skipper after losing the ODI series 3-0.

Stirling and O’Brien scored more T20i runs than any other batsmen in 2019 and their class and experience shone through as 93 were added in the first six overs - a world record for an international powerplay before Dwayne Bravo sparked a West Indies revival. The well-travelled T20 specialist seems to be able to deliver yorkers at will and bowled O’Brien with one for 48 in the 13th over before Stirling miscued another massive swipe and was caught at deep mid-wicket in the next over, looking for his century.

“At one stage we were on for a little more than we got,” Stirling said. “It was down to myself or Kev to go on a little longer because it’s always difficult for a new batsman coming in.” The Ireland attack, without Boyd Rankin and Mark Adair, held the home side to 63-1 in their powerplay, with left-armer Little removing Lendl Simmons for 22 but three sixes in the eighth over took in-form opener Evin Lewis his half-century and got the chase back on track.

Lewis departed for 53 but the sixes continued to rain down as Keiron Pollard blasted 31 from 14 balls only to be bamboozled when Simi Singh switched to bowling leg-spin and Ireland held on to a series of spectacular catches in the deep to claim their impressive scalp.

Balbirnie praises battling Ireland

CricketEurope:

Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie has praised the resilience of his side after they bounced back from an ODI series whitewash to win the first T20I in Grenada. In a dramatic finale, Josh Little held his nerve to secure a four-run win, and add to famous Irish wins against the West Indies.

It was their second T20 win over them, adding to a World Cup ODI victory in 2015, as well as beating them on Irish soil over the years in Belfast, Sion Mills and Dublin. “Everyone is ecstatic, we came so close in that second ODI and it maybe affected us in that third ODI, so to show the bottle and come out against one of the top teams in T20 cricket and get a win was great for the vibe of the team," said Balbirnie after the game.

The win was set up by an Irish T20I record opening stand of 154 between Man of the Match Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien, with the 93 scored in the powerplay not just an Irish record but a world record. “It was just about as well as I’ve ever seen Paul bat in T20 cricket – he’s a world-class player and he’s played all around the world, he’s such as important player for us in all forms of cricket and he leads from the front, which he did today.

“I think we lost Kevin and Paul quite quickly together having batted so brilliantly for us – they are our two key men and they showed it today. Maybe we could be a bit better when we do lose set batsmen – we need to learn to rotate a bit better. But when you get 200+ in any T20 you feel in the game. Ireland didn't have it all their own way but held their nerve in the closing stages to seal the win, and Balbirnie praised his attack who had taken early punishment.

"They got off to a pretty good start, but we kept our composure and that’s all I asked from the guys, just to be clear with what they wanted to do and they did that. “George’s last over was brilliant – to come back after a couple of the batters got after him was great. That’s what T20 cricket is about, if you bowl one over like that you can change the game.”

The teams play the final two matches of the tour in St Kitts and Balbirnie wants to claim a series win. “It’s great to get a win obviously but you want to win a series and make history, so if we can do that in the next two games we can go home very happy.”

Irish Independent, CricketEurope