Thanks to Evin Lewis and Alazzari Joseph, West Indies defeated Ireland by 5 wickets in the first one-day international match played at the Kensington Oval Bridgetown, Barbados on Tuesday.
Newly appointed Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and decided to bat first. Ireland openers Gareth Denly and Paul Stirling got the team off to a steady start adding 34 runs. Joseph provided the breakthrough for West Indies dismissing Gareth Denly for 19. Roston Chase, in his first over, dismissed Ireland captain Balbirnie cheaply as Ireland mustered 52 for 2 in first 10 overs.
After the power play overs, the West Indies bowlers kept bowling at a tight line and length, not allowing the Ireland batsmen to score runs easily and picked wickets at regular intervals.
Mark Adair and Lorcan Tucker provided some resistance for Ireland, adding 54 runs for the 7th wicket. It was a good bowling performance by the hosts who bowled out the visitors for 180 in 46.1 overs. For West Indies, Joseph was the pick of bowlers with 4 for 32, Hayden Walsh Junior and Sheldon Cottrell picked 2 wickets apiece, Keemo Paul and Chase picked 1 wicket each.
Chasing 181 runs to win, Shai Hope and Evin Lewis got off to a steady start, mixing aggression with caution. McCarthy gave his side first wicket in the form of Shai Hope. Lewis looked in aggressive touch putting pressure on Ireland bowling line up. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies were well placed at 62 for 1.
After the power play overs, Ireland bowlers dismissed Brandon King, Shimron Hetymer in quick succession. Lewis looked pleasant to the eye and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Nicolas Pooran came to the crease and scored a quickfire 17 off 12 balls. Lewis reached his fifty off 46 balls and continued to milk the Ireland bowling line up. Lewis and Roston Chase added 48 runs for the 5th wicket before Chase was dismissed for 19.
Evin Lewis hit the winning runs with a boundary and helped West Indies win the match by 5 wickets with 100 balls to spare.
West Indies 184 for 5 in 33.2 overs ( Evin Lewis 99*, Simi Singh 2/44) beat Ireland 180 in 46.1 overs ( Lorcan Tucker 31, Alazzari Joseph 4/32) by 5 wickets.
West Indies take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. The 2nd ODI will be played on 9th January at the same ground.
