All Windies bowlers performed brilliantly after their batmen post a modest 139-run target for the Irish side. Stand-in skipper Dwayne Bravo (2-5) took two wickets whereas speedster Kemar Roach (1-12) and spinner Nikita Miller (1-18) shared a wicket each.

Chasing a modest target, Ireland lost wickets at regular intervals and failed to create any momentum in their run chase. Gary Wilson top-scored for Ireland with a slow 34-ball 17 and he was the only Irish batsman to post a double digit figure.

Sammy showed his all-round colour in the match and grabbed three wickets, took four brilliant catches and top-scored for the hosts with a quick-fire 17-ball 30.

Dwayne Bravo added more agony to Irish side as the stand-in Windies skipper struck twice in an over to get rid of Trent Johnston (5) and Gary Wilson (17) in the thirteenth over.

Darren Sammy scalped Kevin O’Brien (9) in the ninth over to jolt the Irish run chase as Ireland were reduced to 39/5 in 8.1 overs.

Pacer Ravi Rampaul struck again soon after the match started after rain delay to take his third wicket of the match as he dismissed Alex Cusack (2) in the fourth over.

Rain stopped the match just after the Irish were left tottering at 13/3 in 2.3 overs by the two opening pacers of the hosts. Though, no overs will be deducted due to the delay.

Chasing 139-run target, Ireland lost three quick wickets early against West Indies.

Rampaul struck twice in his first over to dismiss Niall O’Brien (6) and Paul Stirling (0) and reduced Ireland to 11/3 in 1.5 overs.

Ireland lost skipper Porterfield (4) early to Windies speedster Kemar Roach who struck with the second ball of the innings.

Earlier, 17-year-old George Dockrell (3-16) led brilliant Ireland bowling to restrict hosts West Indies to 138/9 in their Twenty20 World Cup opening clash in Guyana on Saturday.

Dockrell, the youngest player of the tournament, scalped the wickets of Narsingh Deonarine (10), Ramnaresh Sarwan (24) and Andre Fletcher (19) and conceded just 16 runs in his four overs.

For Windies, Darren Sammy top-scored with 30 off just 17 balls and hit two fours and two sixes in his quick-fire inning.

West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals and their main batsmen failed to contribute against the minnows in front of their home crowds.

Boyd Rankin scalped Denesh Ramdin (1) after young left-arm spinner George Dockrell struck twice in the previous over to send Ramnaresh Sarwan (24) and Andre Fletcher (19) back to the pavilion.

Windies lost stand-in skipper Dwayne Bravo (18) and Shivnarain Chanderpaul (14) early to give Ireland the initial advantage.

Ireland’s Alex Cusack struck in his first over to get rid of Bravo, who hit two huge sixes in his 10-ball cameo, to put hosts on the back-foot.

Boyd Rankin dismissed the local star Chanderpaul in the third over to reduce West Indies to 19/1. Chanderpaul slammed two consecutive fours before getting out in the very next ball.

Earlier, West Indies stand-in skipper Dwayne Bravo won the toss and decided to bat against Ireland.

Teams

West Indies: Andre Fletcher, Darren Sammy, Denesh Ramdin (w), Dwayne Bravo (c), Kemar Roach, Kieron Pollard, N Deonarine, Nikita Miller, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ravi Rampaul, Shivnarain Chanderpaul

Ireland: WTS Porterfield (c), AC Botha, Alex Cusack, GC Wilson, George Dockrell, John Mooney, KJ O’Brien, NJ O’Brien (w), Paul Stirling, Trent Johnston, William Rankin

Hosts West Indies face Ireland, looking for yet more giantkilling success, on the first day of this year’s World Twenty20 here on Friday.

One consolation for Ireland is that the form of the West Indies in general and Gayle in particular is far from consistent.

But if Gayle, whose 117 against South Africa in the inaugural 2007 edition remains the only century at a World Twenty20, does find his form then Ireland’s bowlers will be hard pressed to keep him in check.

This month the West Indies beat Ireland by six wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis method in a one-day international in Jamaica but trying to apply conclusions from other forms of cricket to Twenty20 is fraught with risk.

Logically, West Indies should win but Ireland have enjoyed upsetting the odds on the world stage.

At last year’s World Twenty20 they beat Test nation Bangladesh and at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean they knocked former champions Pakistan out of the tournament.

Ireland relish their role as underdogs on the big stage but for the home side are under pressure.

The team was reduced to a bit-part role at the 2007 World Cup and defeat on Friday would lead to more frustration amongst their fans who recently saw the team beaten by Zimbabwe in a one-day international, although the West Indies did go on to win that series 4-1.

It is six years since the West Indies won a major international tournament, the 2004 Champions Trophy and batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, a veteran of that success, believes the current side are in a position to make the most of their local knowledge.

“We have a very good chance of winning this competition. We are at home and that gives us an advantage,” he said.

“What is important is that we play as a team and try and support each other as much as we can, whether it’s in the field or when we are batting or bowling. “We hope we can do it on a consistent basis.”

Ireland may entrust eight overs to teenage spinners George Dockrell and Paul Stirling, who both got through their full quota in Tuesday’s 40-run warm-up defeat by New Zealand, with Dockrell taking three wickets.

It was in 1969 that Ireland made the cricket world sit up and take notice by dismissing the touring West Indies for just 25 on what remains one of the most famous days in Irish cricket history.

Now Ireland are coached by a former West Indies batsman in Phil Simmons and he reckons the compressed nature of Twenty20 makes upsets more likely.

“I think it’s easier to pull off a shock in Twenty20 because recovery time is less than in 50 overs,” said Simmons.

“We have played that little bit more Twenty20 than we had going into the last World Cup – so we are slightly wiser about Twenty20 cricket. That has to be a good thing.”

ICC World Twenty20

The 2nd match of T20 World Cup between West Indies v Ireland will be played on 30th April 2010 at Providence Stadium, Guyana.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

It was three years ago that Ireland sensationally defeated Pakistan at the 50-over World Cup to knock the Asian giants out of that tournament.

Ireland find themselves up against England and the West Indies in the first round of the World Twenty20 and need to beat one of the Test nations in Guyana to get through to the second round.

But, as the Netherlands showed when beating England at Lord’s in last year’s World Twenty20, shocks can happen in cricket’s shortest international format too, not that Ireland need anyone to tell them about how to cause an upset.

“I think it’s easier to pull off a shock in Twenty20 because recovery time is less than in 50 overs,” said Ireland coach Phil Simmons, whose side were still involved in last year’s edition in England with six games to go.

“We have played that little bit more Twenty20 than we had going into the last World Cup – so we are slightly wiser about Twenty20 cricket,” the former West Indies batsman added. “That has to be a good thing.”

Ireland squad’s contains men with experience of major tournaments including World Cup captain Trent Johnston and his successor Will Porterfield, as well as players who are now featuring for English counties.

“It’s nice (for me) to be playing in the West Indies and for the players to be taking on England too,” Simmons said.

“But this is the group we would have taken too; we are happy with that.

“From our point of view, it is about trying to improve our performance every time we take on teams at this level – and Twenty20 is no different.

“It is a format we are not experienced in, but we have to keep picking things up as we go and make sure we use them.”

Ireland’s progress has led them to ask the International Cricket Council to tell them what else they must do to qualify for Test status.

But Simmons insisted that did not put extra pressure on his players at the World Twenty20.

“Yes, the pressure is on; but that is inevitable on these occasions.

“The stakes are always high, whenever you are taking on these full member top teams with a chance to show you are improving,” Simmons added.

“It’s not something we even think about. We just go out to play as well as we can and make sure we take our opportunities.”

William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Gary Kidd, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien (wk), Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wk).

Set a modest 145 to win, Ireland, who in the first round beat Bangladesh, were on course at 87 for one before Andrew White holed out to Nuwan Kulasekara.

It was the start of a collapse that saw three wickets lost for four runs in seven balls with spinner Ajantha Mendis striking twice to get rid of Kevin O’Brien and brother Niall, who made a game 31 before he was stumped.

At 91 for four Ireland were in trouble and Lasith Malinga then took two wickets in two balls to reduce them to 105 for six.

But John Mooney (31 not out) kept Ireland in the hunt and off the last over, from the unorthodox Malinga, they needed 18 to win – a target that proved beyond them as they finished on 135 for seven.

A fine all-round display in the field saw Ireland, who at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean beat both Bangladesh and Pakistan, restrict Sri Lanka to just 144 for nine.

Only former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene’s 78 prevented complete collapse in an innings where only three batsmen made double figures and the next best score was Sanath Jayasuriya’s 27.

Brisbane-born seamer Alex Cusack, who took two wickets in an over, finished with fine figures of four wickets for 18 runs in his three overs.

But Sri Lanka were already in trouble before he came on.

Former Ireland captain Trent Johnston, also born in Australia, took one for 18 in his four overs while the recalled Boyd Rankin had two for 27.

Tight bowling was backed up by fine fielding, Niall O’Brien setting the tone with three catches and a stumping.

Ireland captain William Porterfield got their reply off to a sound start.

The left-hander, who plays for English county Gloucestershire, then cover-drove Kulasekara for well-struck boundaries.

But Niall O’Brien aggravated the right ankle injury he’d sustained in the win over Bangladesh after first slipping and then diving into the crease to make his ground.

O’Brien, who needed several minutes of treatment, then reversed swept Mendis to the boundary and lofted Angelo Mathews for four over long-off.

But a stand of 59 ended in the 10th over when Porterfield was caught behind by Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakarra off Muttiah Muralitharan.

Earlier Jayawardene, who came in at 14 for two, batted with typical elegance during a 53-ball innings featuring a six and nine fours before he was clean bowled by Cusack.

Ireland took a wicket off only the second ball of the match when the dangerous Tillekaratne Dilshan saw a miscued pull off Rankin held by O’Brien.

The keeper then took an even better catch when, standing up, he held an edge from opposing gloveman Sangakarra off Johnston.

Ireland complete their Super Eights programme against Pakistan at the Oval on Monday while Sri Lanka are in action 24 hours later at Trent Bridge when they face New Zealand.

Redmond, drafted into the Black Caps squad on Wednesday night to replace the sick Jesse Ryder, made an immediate impact with a hurricane 63 off 30 balls at the top of the order.

New Zealand, sent in to bat on an even-paced wicket, rode on Redmond’s belligerence to pile up 198-5 before bowling the minnows out for 115 in 16.4 overs to record their first Super Eight points.

Four Irish batsmen ran themselves out with New Zealand’s stand-in captain Brendon McCullum effecting two of them with direct hits while elder brother Nathan claimed three wickets.

The Kiwis play Sri Lanka and Pakistan in their remaining second round matches with the top two teams in the group set to advance to the semi-finals.

The Black Caps were once again without captain Daniel Vettori, who has yet to play in the tournament due to a shoulder injury, while frontline batsman Ross Taylor missed out due to a hamstring strain.

Redmond, a 29-year-old from Otago, was playing club cricket in England when he was called up to replace Ryder, who was hospitalised in London with a mysterious illness and was ruled out of the tournament.

The seven-Test veteran showed no signs of nerves in his first Twenty20 international as he hammered 30 runs in the first two overs and contributed 40 in an opening stand of 51 with stand-in captain Brendon McCullum.

Scott Styris continued Ireland’s leather hunt with 42 off 23 balls, adding 61 for the third wicket with Martin Guptill, who remained unbeaten on 45 with four sixes.

“I had been playing in the Bolton League. There were a lot of 50-over matches which were rain-affected, so it was good practice for this shortened version of the game,” said Redmond.

“We have plenty of good players. I just go out there and bat. It was important to get a good start and put runs on the board. But we all miss Jesse. He’s a good man.”

Ireland spinner Kyle McCallan admitted that the minnows suffered a sluggish start.

“It was disappointing for us. We got off to a bad start from the very first ball,” he said.

“It’s not often we come up against batsmen of the calibre we have been facing here, but we didn’t adapt as well as we could.”

Ireland, a non-Test playing nation coached by former West Indian opener Phil Simmons, qualified for the Super Eights after a shock win over Bangladesh in the first round.

Like the 50-over World Cup, teams that qualify for the next round don’t carry the points forward with them ( a major flaw in tournament rules and a classic indicator of ICC’s myopia). Hence, there is very little to gain for the two teams from the contest.

Tell that to the Indian captain though and he will quickly dismiss any such thoughts. “You cannot underestimate any team in this format. Ireland will play aggressive cricket. They have nothing to lose, they have already qualified for the super eight stage. There will be less pressure on them.”

Does that mean that there is more pressure on India as there is every chance that an associate nation can upset a full-member country which can lead to a major embarrassment especially for the captain.

“I don’t know what to say.When we go out, we want to give our best and perform. It’s a dead rubber. Maybe the intensity will be a bit low as compared to the game against Pakistan and Bangladesh. But we want to win this game,” Dhoni said.

Winning the game and winning it convincingly will also give the Indian team and Dhoni bragging rights over the rivals, who claim they have in Kevin O’Brien, a hitter on par with India’s Yuvraj Singh.

The Indian captain had nothing but a sarcastic smile to offer to that comment. He also called Kevin, a good batsman. “But I won’t compare him with Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj has proved himself over a number of years. He is one of the biggest hitters in the game. He hits sixes quite consistently.”

Dhoni himself is quite a big hitter of the cricket ball. And now, he has more bats to choose from and he can use them to send the ball into orbit. “The more bats you have the better it is. It’s a back up. But it’s good to score more runs than the number of bats you have,” he said jokingly.

The new bat, one hopes will help Dhoni to score big on Wednesday. But more importantly, he will want another thorough and professional performance from his team that will enable the Indians to enter the super eights on a high.

Time to put the foot down.

India vs Ireland Live Scorecard

Ireland sprang a surprise when they beat Bangladesh in their opening game of the tournament on Monday. Their 6 wicket win has propelled them into the Super 8’s and tough they will remain huge underdogs, they should gain tremendous benefit from the experience and it’s potentially a real adventure for the little known cricket team of a great sporting nation.

The O’ Brien’s, Niall (40) and Kevin (39) were largely responsible for overhauling Bangladesh’s 137/8 and they eventually got home with 10 balls remaining. As India had also beaten Bangladesh in their opener, Ireland’s win was enough to see them through to the next stage regardless of what happens here.

India were pre-tournament favourites. They also disposed of Bangladesh in their opening game, successfully defending 180 to win by 25 runs. Sehwag missed the game through injury though he may no longer be an automatic choice to return if Dhoni sticks with Rohit Sharma as Gambhir’s opening partner.

Spinner Pragyan Ojha was the pick of the Indian bowlers against Bangladesh when he weighed in with 4 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs. Harbhajan failed to pick up a wicket but was also economical and with 3 other spinners in the side plus the pace of Ishant Sharma, Zaher Khan and Irfan Pathan, Dhoni is never short of options.

The Tigers, who lost to India by 25 runs on Saturday, must win to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the Super Eights. A defeat will send them packing from the 12-nation tournament.

“We know this is a do-or-die match for us, so we have to be at our best,” said Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful ahead of the group A game at Trent Bridge.

“We can’t afford to put a foot wrong now.”

Ashraful said the experience of playing against defending champions India, where they scored 155/8 in reply to their rivals’ 180/5, will hold the team in good stead.

“We learnt our lessons,” he said. “I think we matched India well but just did not have good partnerships to keep going till the end.

“We bowled and fielded quite well. We must do the same again. The batsmen must put up enough runs on the board.”

Opener Junaid Siddique tamed the Indian attack with 41 off 22 balls that contained three sixes and two boundaries, but none of the other top order batsmen were able to fire.

It was left to tail ender Naeem Islam, who followed his two wickets with a 17-ball 28 to narrow the victory margin.

Bangladesh raced to 74 by the eighth over against the champions before India’s left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha turned the match around with four wickets, including two in his first over.

“We have to do much better against Ireland,” said Ashraful. “I am not taking the Irish lightly. They know the conditions well and have nothing to lose.

“It will be a tough game but I am confident we will put up a good show.”

Ireland, a non-Test playing side unlike Bangladesh, will ride on the experience of their county players to make an impact in their first-ever World Twenty20.

Eoin Morgan, who plays for Middlesex, was snapped up by England for the tournament, leaving captain William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin and the O’Brien brothers, Kevin and Niall, to keep Ireland’s flag flying.

It is almost the same Irish team that stunned Pakistan in the 50-overs-a-side World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 to advance to the second round.

Ireland have never played a Twenty20 international against an established side, but have won three of their four games against fellow minnows.

They also stunned Worcestershire last month after bowling the English county side out for 58, a victory that pleased their coach Phil Simmons, the former West Indian opener.

“That win was just what we needed before the tournament,” he said. “It was achieved without our top county players which says a lot for the depth of the squad. I will be very disappointed if we don’t make our mark.

“Obviously our best chance lies in the game against Bangladesh but the beauty of Twenty20 cricket is its unpredictability. We will be going into the tournament in a confident mood.”

Ireland’s last group match is against India on Wednesday.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Mohammad Mithun.

Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Jeremy Bray, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Regan West, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.