Ireland vs West Indies Prediction: Two experienced squads, Windies favored slightly

“They beat me, you beat them, and I beat you”. The formula during the T20 World Cup has been a mixed recipe. There are no clear-cut favorites in this scene and it is stacked with a lot of top talents being challenged. But the situation is clear, a loss at this point is going to sting the most. The tacky group combinations are underway and the cloud over each game remains supreme as they figure out how to go about as a team. In Group A, Sri Lanka and Netherlands are through Super 12s. They had a great day to acquire those positions. Whose day will it be when persistent Ireland meets the veteran West Indies unit?

Ireland comes into the game after serving up a surprise win against Scotland by six wickets after they had lost to Zimbabwe in a rather shabby fashion earlier. This will be a big game for them as Zimbabwe beat them earlier and despite their win against Scottish men, they were desperate for a win. That defeated a team that had downed the side that had beaten West Indies by a margin of 42 runs. Ireland’s middle-order surely breathed life into their hopes.

George Dockrell’s evolution as a batter has been incredible to follow. At 18/19, he was bowling spin for them but now has shown pinch-hitting abilities. Curtis Campher doesn’t go big usually but last game, he showed us a different side of his. Like Dockrell, he was hitting it hard had 72 in 32, in what can be argued as one of the best innings considering the context of the game. When he came to bat, they needed 116 runs in 63 balls. They won with a over to spare. This is a dramatic change of fate.

Dockrell did something impressive, he both took singles and doubles while finding the odd boundary needed. That set-up for an impressive finish by Curtis Campher. However, Ireland’s skipper Andy Balbirnie’s decision to give four overs to Barry McCarthy fired as he gave up 59 runs. And at that point, Campher was available to bowl two more. Sure, he has been off his bowling a bit but in the last game, he gave just nine runs and took two wickets in two overs. Adair and Little did well as the pace duo but except for Campher, the Ireland look toothless against Scottish Michael Jones. A cause of concern.

West Indies have been at best a sub-par team in recent years. They experiment too much but they have so much experience that they can get an odd win or two. They lost to Scotland by a big margin and needed to win the next game. But then they defeated Zimbabwe by 31 runs in a disciplined bowling effort that was surely inspiring to watch. They neutralized the Raza factor and played a brilliant brand of basketball.

The haphazard top order in the last game yielded promising results as Jonathan Charles got going and made 45 runs. Still, the top-order looks so jumbled up. Pooran comes at number four, which is understandable. Evin Lewis continued to struggle and despite a good hand by Charles, the top-order has been out-of-sync. They have three players that are here and there in terms of the form. Because of this, they couldn’t go around 160 despite losing three third wicket in the 13th over. The West Indies batting doesn’t have the same flurry as it was in Pollard, Gayle, and Russell era. The batting lacks the same zap. 

The bowling did much better than they did in the Scotland game too, as Alzarri Joseph was feeling on-song that day while the experience of Jason Holder also played a role. Obed McCoy gave 19 runs in three overs and found great movement either way. The pace bowling attack has length, speed, and movement, courtesy of which the trio of Holder, McCoy, and Joseph combined for 8 wickets, giving just 47 runs 11.2 overs. Akeal Hossein found control too and the Windies' bowling showed its grip.

You never know! The thing is that the Irish men have a lot of experience and their top order is led by two veterans. The Irish men still depend heavily upon that one player that will bail them out in the game and that can hold them back in big ways. West Indies has a perhaps more well-rounded pace attack. And that can be the difference-maker. Seriously, Windies have not figured out their top order and we are already in the third game. What is the game plan there? Will Stirling play a throwback innings? This can be a nailbiter. The Hobart deck has been unkind to those batting second but I believe it will change here. I predict the score around 280-310 range.