SUMMARY SCORECARD
Ireland v West Indies, 3rd One-Day International, Grenada, 12 January 2020
Ireland 203 (49.1 overs; A Balbirnie 71; H Walsh 4-36)
West Indies 199-5 (36.2 overs; E Lewis 102; A McBrine 2-50)
Result – West Indies won by 5 wickets (DLS method)
Overnight showers freshened the pitch, and both sides were looking to bowl first if they won the toss. The toss went the way of the home side, and Ireland were duly asked to bat first.
Ireland had made two changes to their line-up, with James McCollum coming in for his first appearance on the tour for Gareth Delany, and Boyd Rankin rested with a niggle, with Craig Young coming in.
Almost from the outset the Windies bowlers grabbed the upper hand. Paul Stirling became frustrated with a slow start and was dismissed for 5, flashing at a ball short of a length, and James McCollum – after playing some eye-catching shots square of the wicket – fell for 20, offering a simple catch to cover.
Ireland needed a batter to settle the visitors down and captain Andrew Balbirnie became that man. His 71 from a patient 93 balls was Ireland’s highest individual score of the series, and he looked quite relaxed and confident throughout. He will be disappointed that he couldn’t turn his 9th ODI half-century into three-figures, but he did play the long game needing his teammates to build an innings around him.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to happen and regular wickets fell, with Ireland bowled out in the 50th over for 203. Andy McBrine’s late 25 from 22 balls put some respectability into the score, but the Irish total was around 50 runs below the par score at this ground.
In response, despite three breaks for rain, the home batters completed the run chase in style with 10.4 overs to spare. Player of the Match, Evin Lewis, led the charge with his third career ODI century – 102 from 97 balls. The left-handed middle order batter, Nicholas Pooran, again impressed with the bat and finished with 43, while Brandon King hit a confident 38.
With the final rain delay, three overs were declared lost and a revised target of 197 was set, but the Windies batters achieved the target with more than 60 balls to spare.
For Ireland, Simi Singh was the most economical with 1-29 from 10 overs, while Andy McBrine claimed 2-50, and a wicket apiece went to Barry McCarthy and Craig Young.
Evin Lewis was also named Player of the Series for his 99* and 102 in the 1st and 3rd ODIs respectively.