Ahead of Ireland's first World Cup group match against the West Indies this Sunday (10.00pm), CricketEurope takes a brief look at Ireland's opponents, their form, their record against Ireland, and the venue.
The West Indies: form guide
ICC ODI ranking: 8th
Recent ODI form (most recent first): L W L L L L L W W W
In a word, poor. While four wins in their last ten completed ODIs is not a bad record, two of those were against Bangladesh and another was in a dead rubber against South Africa. The West Indies' last meaningful victory came against India in Kochi last October, but that was followed by the notorious controversy that led to their early departure from the subcontinent and the consequent exclusion of Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard from the World Cup squad.
Even worse, the West Indies were humiliated by England in their first warm-up match last Monday. Chris Woakes (5-19) skittled them for 122 before the English knocked off the runs in fewer than twenty-three overs. Ireland, mind, have just been roundly thrashed by Scotland.
Star men
Amazingly, the highest-ranked West Indian batsman is only 40th in the world, vice-captain Marlon Samuels. That's four places below Ireland's Paul Stirling (36th), while Kevin O'Brien (43rd) ranks higher than the West Indies' next best: Darren Bravo at 46th.
The West Indies, however, have a couple of major outliers: Chris Gayle has had a terrible year in ODIs (138 runs @ 17), but his world ranking of 57th obviously does not reflect the danger he poses. Dinesh Ramdin, meanwhile, is ranked 73rd but has scored 649 runs @ 46 (and at a run-a-ball too) since January 2014.
In terms of bowling, the withdrawal of Sunil Narine (2nd in the world) is a major blow to the West Indies. Moreover, their leading wicket-taker since January 2014, Dwayne Bravo, has been left at home, likewise Ravi Rampaul (ranked 28th in the world). This leaves Kemar Roach and skipper Jason Holder to carry an attack that might look a little threadbare and recently conceded the fastest-ever ODI century to AB de Villiers.
Head to head
Ireland and the West Indies have met five times in ODIs. The West Indies have won four of these, while the other was abandoned to rain in Dublin in July 2007. In the most recent meeting, in Jamaica last February, the hosts chased down Ireland's 202 with relative ease.
In their last World Cup meeting, in the group stages at Mohali in 2011, Ireland were on course to challenge the West Indian total of 275, with Ed Joyce and Gary Wilson going well, before a questionable decision by Asoka de Silva and the flaws of DRS stifled the chase.
In a potentially good omen for the Irish, none of the West Indians who have scored ODI centuries against them (Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Devon Smith) are involved in the World Cup, while only one of the other four West Indians to have made a half-century against the Irish (Dwayne Smith) has been selected. Of the bowlers, only Suleiman Benn has taken more than five wickets (6) against Ireland.
As for the Irish records against the West Indies, Wilson leads the way with 127 runs @ 42.33, while Ed Joyce's 84 in that match at Mohali remains the highest score. Wickets, though, have been scarce: Kevin O'Brien has 4 (all of them in that match in 2011), George Dockrell has 3, while Mooney, Stirling, and Thompson have each picked up a couple.
The Ground
The Saxton Oval in Nelson is one of the newest ODI grounds in world cricket, having hosted only two previous matches. Both were this year: hosts New Zealand beat the West Indies by 58 runs (D/L) and then Sri Lanka by 4 wickets.
The stats don't tell us much, then, but here they are:
- 50% of teams win the toss and bat first
- 50% of matches are won batting first
- Average score batting first: 281
- Average runs per over: 5.37
- Average runs per wicket: 36.11
Predictions
This is probably Ireland's best chance of picking up a win against one of the ‘big four' in their group, something that is likely essential to their progress into the knockout stages. The Irishmen's recent form, however, still makes the West Indies formidable favourites.