HOBART: In a pivotal Group B match of the first round on Friday at Bellerive Oval, leg-spinner Gareth Delany picked up career-best figures of 3/16, and veteran opener Paul Stirling, competing in his seventh Men's T20 World Cup, stood up when it mattered most, smashing a sensational 66 not out to lead Ireland to the Super 12 stage of the ongoing tournament with a nine-wicket victory over West Indies.
Stirling came out swinging in his unbeaten 48-ball knock, hitting six fours and two sixes to make a mockery of the chase, and hunting down the total with 15 balls left after Delany kept things tight and other bowlers chipped in to keep the West Indies to an under-par 146/5 in 20 overs, with Brandon King making an unbeaten 62.
For Ireland to advance to the Super 12 stage after failing to get past the first round in their previous five T20 World Cup appearances, he stitched a scorching 73-run opening stand with captain Andrew Balbirnie and then put on 77 runs for the unbroken second-wicket stand with Lorcan Tucker (45 not out). This eliminated the illiterate two-time champions from the competition.
After striking first with a top-edge that flew past slip off Obed McCoy in the first over, Stirling and Balbirnie both viciously swiped left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein for four and six runs, respectively, to score 16 runs off the second over.
Balbirnie raised the tempo by hitting two fours and a six on the first three balls of Odean Smith, while Stirling decisively clobbered Alzarri Joseph for a six over deep mid-wicket. The fifty of the first partnership was then raised, with an inside-out loft above cover-point for six. In the final over of the power play, Stirling proceeded to pounce on Joseph. A top-edge sailed over the open slip cordon, and the very next ball slashed past backward point to make it back-to-back fours. In order to keep Ireland on track after Balbirnie fell while cutting aggressively to Hosein's diving backward point, Stirling sent Joseph for a six over deep square leg and reached his 21st T20I fifty by depositing a late dab beyond third man for four. Tucker, who overcame a caught-behind appeal off Smith on a no-ball, proved to be a capable ally for him. After starting the game with a sweep off Hosein, Tucker advanced by slog-sweeping him for six and reached the half-century mark of his second wicket partnership with Stirling with a powerful six over long-on for six off McCoy.
Stirling moved over and scooped Joseph over short fine leg for a four, displaying some of his creative stroke-play. McCoy's half-volley was turned into a loft over cover for four points by Tucker as he danced down the field to complete the chase and send Ireland to the Super 12. When Ireland was forced to bowl first, they scored first when Barry McCarthy spooked Kyle Mayers with a length ball, causing the left-hander to mistime the ball to mid-off. In the fourth over, Johnson Charles pounced on Curtis Campher's short balls, scoring two fours and a six on three straight pitches.
Simi Singh, an off-spinner, struck him out in his first over just as he was beginning to gain momentum when Charles chopped a short ball straight to backward point. King, who replaced Shamrah Brooks in the playing eleven, missed the target with Singh's drive past mid-off on the very first ball.
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