Ireland ran into a carnival procession here yesterday as a pumped-up West Indies cruised to victory in front of 20,000 cheering locals. Missing their captain Trent Johnston through injury, the Irish lost for the first time in this World Cup. They were beaten by a better side playing well, no shame there. Their decision to make first use of a fast, bouncy Sabina Park wicket was a bold statement of intent in front of a vociferous near capacity crowd.

Trent Johnston's injured shoulder was not risked, so the team took to the field without their captain for the first time in the tournament. Vice-captain Kyle McCallan led the side in his absence. Before play began, a minutes silence was held for former ICU chairman Bob Kerr, who died this week while following Ireland's remarkable progress in Group D. It was the second such ceremony in as many games following the tribute to Bob Woolmer at the same ground on Wednesday. The locals, still filing in from the back streets of Kingston, observed it impeccably.

The Blarney Army was shorn of several battalions, but the tricolour was still flying at several points around the ground. The now familiar chants of "Ireland, Ireland" were subsumed by the exuberance of the Jamaicans who were hosting their team for possibly the last time in the tournament, depending on who makes it back to Sabina Park for the semi-finals.

The first over from Jerome Taylor was hostile, bowling fast and full, moving the ball into William Porterfield's pads. This was the perfect line given Ireland's left-handed top five. Porterfield, a former MCC Young Cricketer, seemed stunned by the pace and went caught at slip off Daren Powell's second ball. The Jamaican crowd had come in large numbers and sat back expecting a rout, led by local boys Taylor and Powell. But, excited by the pace of the pitch, the quickies bowled too short, the trampoline bounce of the wicket illustrated by a top edged six by Morgan that went over the wicket keeper's head off Taylor.

There followed a stand of 58 off 84 balls between Jeremy Bray and Eoin Morgan which stabilised the innings after the shock of the early wicket. But the theme of the innings was of lost opportunities. Seven of the Ireland batsmen reached double figures, none went on to reach 50. At 70-2 Ireland had weathered the early pace and looked set to build a commanding total, one that might test the hosts. It was a much-needed partnership but ended prematurely. The pressure of making a score on such a perfect batting wicket weighed heavily and prompted a rash decision by Morgan. After a 14-ball period of inaction, he charged down to Powell and top edged a skier. Keeper Denesh Ramdin beat four of his team-mates to the catch running 20 yards back toward the North Stand.

Kevin O'Brien promised to offer support to Botha, by now established. But against the off spin of Gayle and Samuels, the middle of the order was becalmed. A straight six by Botha was followed by a slog sweep that caught the top edge. Captain Kyle McCallan set himself the task of squeezing maximum value from the tail. He set up shop with Andrew White, the two would share an office in September when White joins McCallan in the PE Department at Grosvenor Grammar School in East Belfast. But for now it was the West Indians who were handing out the lessons. White reached 18, before trying a cheeky sweep of the fast medium bowling of Dwayne Bravo and was bowled behind his legs.

This brought John Mooney to the wicket. The all-rounder from the North County club was playing his first game of the tournament, as a replacement for Johnston. He walked into a cauldron. Bravo, the great new hope of West Indian cricket had his tail up, a baying crowd behind him. Running away from the George Headley Stand, he bowled a brute of a first ball. Short and fast it flew at chest height, flicking Mooney's glove before he had time to move his hands out of the way. The ball, and the moment, would have accounted for many a veteran player. David Langford-Smith survived an lbw shout on the hat-trick ball before he and McCallan scampered the final few runs.

Due to a rain break that occurred at 45.2 overs, the Ireland innings ended after 48 overs. In view of the rain interruption, and the shortening of the innings, the West Indian target was set, under the Duckworth/Lewis rules, at 190.

The momentum of the West Indian innings was provided by Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who began by hitting four consecutive boundaries off one Boyd Rankin over. A century partnership between himself and Sarwan established the momentum of the innings and Chanderpaul and Samuels comfortably saw them home with almost 10 overs to spare. Chanderpaul won the Man-of-the-Match award.

After the emotional roller coaster of the past two weeks, the Irish team will be relieved to start afresh in Guyana before readying themselves for another huge game, against England in Georgetown.