Amaiden international century from Sunil Ambris helped West Indies chase down 328 in the fourth match of the Tri-Nation Series, their highest run-chase in ODIs.
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Andrew Balbirnie’s 135 had pushed Ireland to a formidable first innings effort, but Ambris’ 126-ball 148 and some help from the middle order was enough to condemn the hosts to a five-wicket defeat.
William Porterfield’s side won the toss and elected to bat, and following Sheldon Cottrell’s (1/67) early dismissal of James McCollum (5), Paul Stirling and Balbirnie batted astutely, the latter bringing up his 50 from 55 balls.
Stirling was conservative in the early stages as he reached his 19th ODI half-century, while Balbirnie exhibited some fine-stroke play, batting at around a run-a-ball as the Windies bowlers grew increasingly frustrated.
The tourists fought back somewhat in the middle overs, as Shannon Gabriel (2/47) found his stride, forcing Stirling to top-edge a hook to backward square, departing for 77, before dismissing Porterfield (3) with a sharp angling ball that took an edge to Ashley Nurse in the slips.
Balbirnie was undeterred however, reaching three figures from exactly 100 balls, marking a superb fourth ODI ton. His excellent knock came to an end when he mistimed a low Jonathan Carter full toss into the hands of Jason Holder at long-off, leaving the field to a warm ovation from the crowd for his 124-ball-135.
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Ireland veteran Kevin O’Brien then carried on where his compatriot had left off, blasting three fours and as many sixes in an explosive 40-ball 63, while Mark Adair chipped in with a flurry of boundaries in his unbeaten 25 (13), pushing Ireland to 327/5 from their 50 overs.
West Indies have done it – it’s their highest successful chase in ODIs!
Sunil Ambris starred with an exceptional innings of 148 from 126 balls, with the visitors chasing down the target of 328 with 13 balls to spare. #IREvWI SCORECARD ⬇️https://t.co/nTmpE3iPMo pic.twitter.com/jHIFTUmN9y
— ICC (@ICC) 11 May 2019
Ambris and Shai Hope made a splendid start to their side’s run-chase, the former notching a maiden ODI half-century from just 44 balls as Ireland struggled to find early inroads.
In-form man Hope departed for 30 via a fantastic McCollum catch at point, and Darren Bravo fell victim to Stirling for 17, but a confident Ambris on his just his fourth outing in the format, took charge of proceedings, notching a maiden ODI ton from just 89 deliveries.
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He and Chase (46) put on 108 for the third wicket before Ireland struck in consecutive overs, Josh Little (1/78) clean bowling Chase, and Ambris edging to gully for 148 off Boyd Rankin (3/75).
