is this a wicket? Does it matter? It's full, angling in and close to off stump, and Walsh has a big slog across the line but he can't find the desired connection, and the ball is past his bat and into the keeper's gloves, low. Josh Little has done just enough in the last over, and Ireland have held on for a narrow, yet massive win
4.45pm That's it from me, then. We'll have the match report up soon, in case you missed all the excitement that just went down in Grenada. Lots of cricket to come over the next few weeks, and we'll be bringing you all of it as always. Until we meet next time, goodbye!
Paul Stirling is the player of the match. ""It was a really good pitch," he says. "We probably put about a par score on, which showed in the end. I wouldn't say we were nervous, but they seemed to be up with the rate all the way through, until it flipped in the last over. A huge difference in mindset [between T20s and ODIs]. Here you have the chance to express yourself. In 50-over cricket you have to bat a little longer. It's quite a daunting task when you see the big lads come in, how hard and how far you hit it, so it was important that if we got a wicket, we put a squeeze on in the next few overs."
Mohit : "Can't stop my tears from flowing!! Great win ..richly deserved . Following the match through cricinfo at night 2.30 am in india Ireland you deserve it."
Mark: "Amazing! It looked as if that McCarthy over had settled it. Kudos to Ireland for managing bring it back."
4.36pm What a match. It seesawed so much, almost every over, and Ireland - who got a long way ahead early on in the match and seemed to keep losing momentum steadily thereafter - end up with just enough left in the tank to deny West Indies. We usually focus a lot on the finish of T20 games, and this was an exciting finish too, but Ireland won it right at the start, with that barnstorming 95 from Paul Stirling and his rollicking opening stand with Kevin O'Brien. West Indies did brilliantly to fight back from there, but that opening stand ensured Ireland had juuuust enough.
He brought them desperately close, but he couldn't win it. Now it's up to Hayden Walsh, who's crossed over. Khary Pierre is at the non-striker's end. A sixer to win it, a four to tie. Little goes over the wicket to the left-hander.
Back of a length, angling into off stump, and Little has got his man! Bravo looks to whip over deep midwicket, hits it reasonably well, but not well enough, and Delany takes the catch a few yards in front of the rope
Five off two...
back of a length, shuffles across to flick and misses. Hits his thigh pad and rolls into the square leg region, but he declines the leg-bye
goes full now, on middle and leg, driven firmly towards long-on, along the ground, and they were always going to run the second, just to keep Bravo on strike. Stirling's throw to the keeper's end was pretty decent, but Little can't collect cleanly, and a run-out is missed with Walsh quite a bit out of his crease
wow. Length ball, angling into off stump, and he barely moves. Just stands there, keeps a steady base, and half-pulls, half-whips over the midwicket boundary. Incredible shot under pressure
Well, well. Dwayne Bravo is on strike now with 13 needed off five. Hayden Walsh is the new man in. Little goes round the wicket to Bravo.
The field was set for a wide line, but he bowls this fairly close to off stump, back of a length. It wasn't necessarily a great delivery, but Rutherford didn't quite middle his leg-side slog. Clears his front leg, connects only halfway cleanly, and long-on, moving to his left, takes a fairly straightforward catch
Ireland have only used five bowlers. Josh Little has one over left, and he'll bowl the last over. West Indies need 13. The left-armer will bowl from over the wicket, with fine leg and third man inside the circle. Square leg is in the circle too. Deep backward point and deep point are back.
full on off stump, driven along the ground, hard, to long-off, and Rutherford keeps the strike
Little mid-pitch conference between the batsmen.
shortish slower ball outside off, whip-pulled in typical DJB fashion to deep square leg
length ball outside off, driven firmly again, on the up, but straight to extra-cover once more
full outside off, driven firmly but too close to extra-cover
Phew. 15 needed now, off 10 balls, and in walks Dwayne Bravo. Playing his first game for West Indies in three-and-a-half years. He kept them in the game with the ball. Can he win it for them with the bat?
shortish on leg stump, here's another late twist. Opens up for a half-sweep, half-pull, but he hits it in the air and too close to the man at deep backward square leg
full on leg stump, almost a yorker. Looks to flick, closes his bat face early, and the ball rolls into the covers off the leading edge
Craig Young, from over the wicket.
it's all coming apart for Ireland. High full-toss wide of off stump - not sure how high - and Pooran slaps it away to find the gap between deep point and deep backward point. Third man was inside the circle, and the line was deliberate, but the length was surely not
Round the wicket now.
wow. This is a length ball wide of off stump, and he jumps across again, and gets down low to slog-sweep straight back down the ground, high over the non-striker's head
shot. This has been a struggle of an innings, but Pooran finds an important boundary here. Jumps across his stumps, expecting the wide line, and gets it. It's fullish, not quite a half-volley, and he flat-bats it over the head of the leaping extra-cover fielder
full, slanting into a wide line outside off, driven past the extra-cover fielder diving to his right
wow. How. That's a short ball angling away from him. It's about chest high, and in the attempt to reach it and pull over midwicket, he ends up meeting it well in front of his body, and the bottom hand comes off the handle. Even so, he times it so well that it sails easily over the rope
make that 37 off 17. Full, slanting away from off stump, and Rutherford clears his front leg and launches that over the wide long-off boundary
Only two off that over. Now West Indies need 43 off 18. McCarthy from right-arm over.
and again, beaten three times in a row! He's just bowling regulation left-arm spin wide of off stump, and Pooran can't get bat to ball, while trying to muscle it over the covers. It's what pressure does
beaten once more from that wide line. Looks to drive through the covers but he doesn't read the pace or the length well, ends up grabbing at the ball
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
2W | ||||
National Cricket Stadium, St George's, Grenada | |
Toss | Ireland, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2019/20 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Ireland led the 3-match series 1-0 |
Match number | T20I no. 1028 |
Hours of play (local time) | 13.00 start, First Session 13.00-14.30, Interval 14.30-14.50, Second Session 14.50-16.20 |
Match days | 15 January 2020 - day (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |
Over 20 • WI 204/7