Ireland and the West Indies will be hoping it’s a case of ‘third time lucky’ in Derry on Sunday afternoon after the first two legs of their three-game T20I series at the Bready Cricket Club were washed out without a toss.
It’s an immensely frustrating situation for both sides, with Cricket Ireland going through significant financial struggles since the pandemic and the West Indies’ noble efforts to grow the game globally being frustrated.
Ahead of a two-format home series against Australia and then an historic bilateral series against Nepal in Sharjah later this year, the Windies still have plenty to play for here if the weather allows.
Meanwhile, Ireland will be fighting both Scotland and the Netherlands for two European slots at the 2026 T20 World Cup in July, so their need for match practice is even more pressing.
Without Brandon King, Roston Chase, Andre Russell or the recently retired Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies will be slightly undermanned for this final game, which weather pending will give the opportunity to hand out some new caps.
Jason Holder might be wishing he followed Pooran out of the British Isles, having foregone his first two Major League Cricket games as Los Angeles Knight Riders captain to commit to his national team.
Why Ireland can win
The 20-over format can often be a great leveller and the format where anyone can win or lose on any given day.
Just ask Ireland who fell to Canada during a disastrous T20 World Cup last year three months before they convincingly defeated runners-up South Africa in Abu Dhabi courtesy of a 137-run opening stand from Ross Adair and Paul Stirling.
Those two will have a lot on their shoulders as will their top order colleagues as the Irish have lost a bit of all-rounder power through the withdrawals of both Curtis Campher and Gareth Delany, whilst the out-of-form Josh Little needs to bounce back quickly to assist an inexperienced bowling attack that is missing 35-year-old Craig Young.
They had a cracking start to the ODI series against the West Indies when it all came together with bat and ball, though their centurion (Andy Balbirnie) from that win is no longer in the T20I picture.
Ireland know they can defeat the Windies, so the belief should be there. The pitches in Bready could be slower than the ones Clontarf CC produced for the ODIs, which could also assist the home side in reducing the tourists’ boundary count.
Why West Indies can win
After the shock of comprehensively losing the first ODI to Ireland in Dublin, the West Indies pretty quickly adjusted to conditions there to record two large first innings totals and were certainly in a position to win the abandoned second game.
They’ll certainly appreciate the step down in class after a difficult England series where they were competitive in all three matches albeit never in control, with their scores improving in all three games just as they did in the ODIs against Ireland.
If they can carry that batting form immediately through to this match there should be no such repeat of the slow start from last month.
Whilst there was nothing at all to gloat about as far as the bowling was concerned in the T20Is against England, they can at least be encouraged by their best scorers of that series sticking on for this one, including former captain Rovman Powell (126 runs) and current one Shai Hope (97 runs).
Venue and conditions
Light morning drizzle is expected to clear by the mid-afternoon according to the BBC forecast, though the ground has already received a lot of rain this week so any more morning precipitation is likely to lead to a lengthy process of getting the ground ready.
Teams that bat first in Bready have a 6-4 record, but there have been a wide range of results from Zimbabwe chasing 172 in 2019 to the same team defending 124 in 2021.
The average T20I run rate there is just 8.03rpo, suggesting that 160 could be a par score for the team batting first.
Match stats
• Only three of the 18 opening partnerships between Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis cleared 30+ runs
• Each of Ireland’s last nine opening partnerships at home were worth under 30 runs
• Yet to face them in T20Is, Shai Hope averages nearly 100 (295/3) against Adair, Little, Barry McCarthy and Dockrell in ODIs, whilst Evin Lewis averages 85 against them in both formats
• Harry Tector averages 131 in ODIs and T20Is against Alzarri, Forde, Shepherd, Holder, Hosein and Motie
• Alzarri Joseph has bowled 7.5 overs to Lorcan Tucker in internationals for figures of 4-36
