Published: Feb 16, 2015, 07:09 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 16, 2015, 08:24 AM (IST)
A gutsy ton by Lendl Simmons and a free flowing 89 by Darren Sammy rescued West Indies from a position of difficulty and helped them to post a challenging 304 for seven in their allotted 50 overs against Ireland at the beautiful New Zealand town of Nelson. Both teams are playing their first game in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. LIVE UPDATES: Ireland vs West Indies ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
The Winidies were down and out and struggling at 87 for five in the 24th over when both batsmen got together and formed a 154 runs partnership for the sixth wicket in just 127 balls. It changed the whole complexion of the game. Ireland, who were domination the proceedings at one point of time, now have to chase down a huge score against a decent West Indies attack to start their World Cup campaign with a winning note. Though they should take heart from the performance of their fellow European team Scotland, in one of the warm-up games. Catch the live score card of the Ireland vs West Indies, Pool B match here
It was a beautiful sunny morning at Nelson, when William Poterfield, the Irish skipper won an important Toss and decide to bowl first. His bowlers did not disappointed him initially either. The Irish bowlers bowled brilliantly in the first powerplay. They were stuck to a impeccable line and length. Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith the two Windies openers took their time in the start of their innings. But when they were settled down and all set to take the attack to the opposition, Kevin O’Brien broke the partnership with the wicket of Smith. Darren Bravo soon followed him without facing a ball. He was runout brilliantly by Andy McBrine. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
Gayle along with Marlon Samuels steadied the ship after that, But then came the phase when the Caribbean boys lost Gayle, Samuels and Denesh Ramdin to the left-arm spin of George Dockrell in quick successions. At that time even 200 was looking quite difficult. But the Simmons-Sammy pair had other ideas. Both batsmen played their natural games. Especially Sammy kept attacking the Irish bowlers which brought down out of their comfort zones.
In the death overs, first Sammy then Simmons hit the bowlers in every corner of the ground. They hit boundaries at their will. After Sammy got out, Andre Russell and Simmons gave them finishing touch. Last 10 overs produced 124 runs and it became the fifth consecutive game in this World Cup in which the score of 300 has been achieved by the teams who batted first.
Brief scores:
West Indies 304 for 7 in 50 overs (Lendl Simmons 102, Darren Sammy 89 ; George 50 for 3) vs Ireland
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
