Windies rout Ireland to level T20 series

BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts and Nevis: Opening batsman Lendl Simmons blasted 10 sixes in an undefeated 91 as West Indies routed Ireland by nine wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International at Warner Park on Sunday.

Simmons also hit five boundaries in his 40-ball blitz. Chasing a modest 139 to win, Simmons won the match in style with a six over midwicket off spinner Simi Singh whose three overs cost 41 runs.

Fellow opener Evin Lewis made 46 with four boundaries and three sixes as West Indies raced to victory with 54 balls remaining. “It was a proper batting surface with the ball coming onto the bat nicely,” said Simmons.

The three-match series ended 1-1 after Ireland edged a first-game thriller by four runs in Grenada before Saturday’s match at Warner Park was abandoned due to rain. Earlier, veteran all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo shared six wickets as West Indies restricted Ireland to 138 all out.

Captain Pollard claimed 3-17. Bravo finished with 3-19 to become the West Indies’ leading all-time wicket-taker in the format with 57 victims in his 69th game.

“We need to get early wickets, we cannot have teams get to 40, 50 in no time. I think we need to improve in that area,” admitted man of the series Pollard. Put into bat, Ireland raced to 50-0 off just 3.3 overs with openers Kevin O’Brien (top scoring with 36) and Paul Stirling again getting their team off to a storming start.

However, Pollard dismissed O’Brien after the Irishman hit his runs off only 18 balls with Bravo then accounting for Stirling (11). Ireland were still well-placed at 74-2 but lost their last eight wickets for just 64 runs despite the efforts of skipper Andy Balbirnie who made 28 from 23 balls.

West Indies won toss

Ireland

P R Stirling lbw b Bravo 11

K J O’Brien c Hetmyer b Pollard 36

*A Balbirnie run out 28

G J Delany c Pooran b Pollard 6

H T Tector c Pooran b Pollard 1

†G C Wilson c Simmons b Shepherd 7

M R Adair run out 6

Simi Singh c Cottrell b Rutherford 5

B J McCarthy not out 18

C A Young c Simmons b Bravo 8

J B Little c Pooran b Bravo 5

Extras (lb 5, w 2) 7

Total (all out; 19.1 overs) 138

Fall: 1-50, 2-55, 3-74, 4-76, 5-93, 6-94, 7-107, 8-108, 9-125, 10-138

Bowling: Cottrell 4-0-33-0 (w 1); Shepherd 4-0-37-1 (w 1); Pollard 4-0-17-3; Bravo 3.1-0-19-3; Walsh 1-0-6-0; Rutherford 3-0-21-1

West Indies

L M P Simmons not out 91

E Lewis c Wilson b Singh 46

†N Pooran not out 1

Extras (w 2) 2

Total (1 wicket; 11 overs) 140

Did not bat: S O Hetmyer, *K A Pollard, R Powell, S E Rutherford, D J Bravo, R Shepherd, S S Cottrell, H R Walsh

Fall: 1-133

Bowling: Stirling 1-0-1-0; McCarthy 2-0-35-0 (w 1); Singh 3-0-41-1; Little 2-0-25-0 (w 1); Adair 2-0-22-0; Young 1-0-16-0

Match result: West Indies won by 9 wickets

Man of the Match: Lendl Simmons (WI)

Series result: 3-match series drawn 1-1

Man of the Series: Kieron Pollard (WI)

Umpires: Patrick Gustard and Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies). TV umpire: Jacqueline Williams (West Indies). Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)