Joyful Ireland deepen West Indies turmoil
Ireland put the world in the cup as the obliging West Indies sleepwalked to an embarrassing defeat during which only Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons seemed awake in rescuing them from 87 for 5
Ireland put the world in the cup as the obliging West Indies sleepwalked to an embarrassing defeat during which only Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons seemed awake in rescuing them from 87 for 5
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Rohan Sharma
6.55 pm: Well that is all she wrote at the Saxton. Ireland pull away with a famous victory, winning this one by four wickets, as they get their tournament off to a rollicking start. West Indies, well, they will have to go back and try to arrest this decline in performance as they regroup ahead of their next clash against Pakistan in Christchurch. I suspect their will be a grisly post-mortem following all this...And can we call Ireland giantkillers anymore? The rest of the teams in the group better start paying attention.
This is also the first time a team has won chasing in the tournament, so that should put that theory, to rest. And spare a thought for Holder, who was making his World Cup captaincy debut. It's alright Jason, cricket can be like that sometimes..
Well that is it from us. We sincerely hope you enjoyed our coverage of today's epic encounter. Till the next time, this is Rohan Sharma signing off on behalf of ESPNcricinfo. Have a Guinness, will you?
William Porterfield, Ireland captain: It is obviously fantastic to win. This sets us up nicely for the next few games. Belief has been growing within the squad for a long time and we know what we are capable of, not just in this game but the other games in the competition as well. 300 was probably about par as we knew the pitch was good with a very quick outfield, so we felt it was well within grasp. Stirling and Joyce kicked on beautifully for us before Niall finished off the chase. I believe Ireland can qualify for the knockout stages. We are going into different conditions as we move on to Brisbane now. We just want to keep proving ourselves to the others.
Jason Holder, West Indies captain: It was a tough loss and obviously putting up 300 should have been enough, but it wasn't today. They came and added impetus for us (Lendl and Sammy) towards the end, but it wasn't enough. We tried to be better with our bowling at the Powerplay and the death overs, but we weren't able to pull them back. I think we just need to be a bit more precise when we set fields. We are just giving away too many boundaries during the middle overs
Don't forget to tune into our latest live showing of Match Point, which is set to begin momentarily. We should be getting more quotes from the match presentation, so don't go anywhere just yet!
Paul Stirling, Man of the Match: Great to get that first win of the competition and hopefully we can make it two for two in a week's time. It was a good toss to win and insert WI, we realised that and got quick early wickets.
The Man of the Match is Paul Stirling for his valuable 92 at the outset to set this up for Ireland
6.43 pm: A famous victory at the Saxton Oval as the World Cup is treated to their first upset, although maybe not so seeing the way Ireland bossed this affair. They began with a disciplined bowling performance that rocked West Indies to 87 for 5, before giving it away towards the end, but they have managed to redeem themselves with this wonderful chase.
Another World Cup, another huge Irish upset. Phil Simmons, their West Indies-born coach, will be mighty pleased with his boys.
6.41 pm: St. Patrick's day is just a month away, but you wouldn't have guessed it as Ireland celebrate like it is 1979. The Irish contingent within the crowd is having a whale of a time as well. The giant-killers do it once more as they add West Indies to their series of conquests as they continue to assert the qualities of the Associates. A famous victory in Nelson for the Shamrock Nation, shaped by the bats of Paul Stirling (92) and Ed Joyce (84), and it wouldn't have been complete without an O'Brien contributing, in this case, Niall with his unbeaten 79. They played with fearlessness and positivity, reminding the bigger nations about what cricket is really all about.
Cries of "Ireland, Ireland" going across
Taylor to bowl with Mooney on strike
Ireland need just the boundary now, although West Indies will be looking to keep them away from that for as long as possible
Ireland coach Phil Simmons has never seen his team play better and believes the aggressive mindset, which appeared to take the beleaguered opposition by surprise, will become their trademark
Tim Wigmore suggests that Ireland's display in knocking over West Indies so comfortably was another example of their "relentless harassment of cricket's cosy cartel"
The days when all Ireland victories are termed a shock have long gone. Their defeat of West Indies was their most clinical performance against a "major" nation
It is little surprise that a team which pulled out of a major bilateral tour only four months ago, and against India of all opposition, continues to be the subject of murmurings of further discontent
#BendTheRules moments from the Group B match between Ireland and West Indies played in Nelson on Monday.