Ireland outgunned by West Indies

Ireland's Caribbean tour ended on a low note as they slumped to a nine wicket loss to the hosts in St Kitts as the T20 series finished level. Kevin O'Brien thumped five consecutive boundaries off Sheldon Cottrell as the Irish raced out of the blocks once again, as 50 came in up in just three overs.

However, O'Brien fell for 36 from 18 balls, as Kieron Pollard proved a handful yet again with his clever variations. He picked up three wickets on his way to a Player of the Series award, as did Dwayne Bravo, as the Irish innings quickly disintegrated from a rapid start to a tame end.

A final total of 138 included 28 from Andy Balbirnie and a breezy 18 from Barry McCarthy but was never likely to be anywhere near competitive on a small ground. That was indeed how the chase materialized as Lendl Simmons clubbed 10 sixes and 5 fours in an unbeaten 91 from just 40 balls, sharing an opening stand of 133 with Evan Lewis, who contributed 46 from 25 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes).

Simi Singh claimed a consolation wicket shortly before the end, but skipper Balbirnie admitted his side were very much second best on the day. "We were outclassed in all facets today – we started very well, as we have in most the games, but when you lose wickets you lose momentum.

"We had a few soft dismissals, which is hugely disappointing, because we came into this match firing and we simply didn't put in a performance today. But to draw a series against the West Indies, we can take positives from that. "We've had a lot of young guys come out and play their first series against a big nation – like Harry Tector, Gareth Delany - so it's great to give them that exposure.

"Obviously in T20 all of our cricket is leading up to that World T20 and getting out of that Group Stage. Look, the guys are hurting but they'll learn from it, so that is all you can ask."