IRE vs WI | Ireland inch closer to series win as rain washes off Carty ton and record Forde fifty

Asked to bat first, West Indies got off to a brisk start with Evin Lewis smashing three fours in the second over. However, Barry McCarthy pegged back the visitors immediately by scalping Brandon King with an outswinger before Josh Little got the better of Lewis later in the powerplay to have the scoreboard reading 55/2 after 10. Shai Hope and Keacy Carty understood that the situation demanded a stable partnership and cut back on any risk taking but kept finding the boundary through good shots at regular intervals. However, once the stand inched close to 50, the duo broke free with a slew of attacking strokes, getting the score up to 127 before Hope nicked behind just one short of an individual half-century. Another brief lull followed, and another Carty explosion bookended it as he carted Barry for 17 runs in the 29th over to celebrate his fifty. The 28-year-old kept building up on his effort with the occasional spurt of boundaries, either side of Aamir Jangoo departing for 13, and brought up a second ODI ton in the 36th over. Yet, his departure immediately after meant Ireland still had a chance to shut out the Windies for a par score who were at 227/5 with 10 overs to go. Matthew Forde had somehting to say about that, as he arrived in the 44th over and struck his second ball for six, setting the tone for a whirlwind knock. Four more sixes followed in the next over off Little, add 16 more off Tom Mayes, and then struck Liam McCarthy for two maximums to equal AB de Villiers' record for the fastest ODI fifty with a 16-ball effort. A quick cameo from Gudakesh Motie along with Justin Greaves' unbeaten 44 off 36 meant the target read a daunting 353 for the Irish.

However, as the teams walked off, rain appeared on the horizon and once it started pouring, there was no going back with the umpires eventually calling the match off after a nearly three-hour wait.