IRE vs WI | Twitter in disbelief as Balbirnie ton and brutal pace hands Ireland 124-run win in first ODI

Brief score: IRE 303/6 (50) [Balbirnie 112(138), Tector 56(51); Forde 3/68(10)] defeat WI 179 (34.1) [Chase 55(76), Forde 38(48); McCarthy 4/32(7.1)] by 124 runs

Asked to bat first, Ireland got off to a sedate start through the experienced pair of Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling with the pair more than content to knock around singles before a spree of boundaries late in the powerplay pushed them to 54/0 at the end of 10. Skipper Stirling soon brought-up a 61-ball half-century as the stand continued to frustrate the Windies for another 12 overs before Roston Chase finally came to the rescue by dispatching the veteran for 54. Cade Carmichael fell for 16 thereafter on the brink of the 30-over mark as the visitors managed to put a severe dent in the scoring rates with Balbirnie looking equal parts scratchy and fluent. However, the arrival of Harry Tector to the crease turned the game on its head as the batter's six fours in a quicker than run-a-ball 56 inspired the opener to free up his own arms too. An 18-ball blitzkrief from Lorcan Tucker for 30 runs added to the jeopardy, and Balbirnie completed an eighth ODI ton to help the Irish take overs 150 runs off the last 20 overs and set a target of 304.

In response, Brandon King and Evin Lewis appeared clueless against the new ball prowess of Barry McCarthy and debutant Thomas Mayes, yet it was a run-out in the third over that led to the demise of the latter and triggered a fatal collapse for the island nations.  By the time the powerplay ended, four more men had followed Lewis back into the pavillion -- three of them courtesy of McCarthy -- to leave the Windies down and out at 31/5. Josh Little made it six in the 15th over with Justin Greaves' scalp, taking Ireland on the verge of a famous win. Albeit the Chase-Forde pairing delayed the inevitable with a 98-run stand, George Dockrell cleaned up the tail to bowl out the Windies for 179 in the 35th over and seal with the win.

Massive

Superb win

Too good

Big win

All set

Absolutely Huge

Historic

Injury Hit

Good performance

Whattt