West Indies v Ireland, 2013-14

	William Porterfield and Darren Sammy share the T20 trophy © West Indies Cricket Enlarge
Related Links Series/Tournaments: Ireland tour of West Indies Teams: Ireland | West Indies

Twenty20 internationals (2): West Indies 1, Ireland 1
One-day international (1): West Indies 1, Ireland 0

Ireland's victory in the first Twenty20 international against West Indies was the high point of a four-week tour of the Caribbean, their first to any of the top eight Full Members. The invitation came on the back of their participation in the Nagico Super50 tournament, staged in Trinidad & Tobago, but that was just the warm-up act for three internationals.

The fact that Ireland arrived in Port-of-Spain only 48 hours before their first match was not a case of poor planning, rather a show of priorities. They had needed lead-in time for the World Twenty20 in March, and finances would not permit it here too. Underprepared, Ireland lost their first two games, against Guyana and Jamaica. Victory against the Windward Islands - by that stage a dead fixture, though Windwards were the reigning champions - did little to dampen the locals' expectation of a walkover.

But on Ireland's return to Sabina Park, where they had announced their arrival on the global stage with a World Cup victory over Pakistan in March 2007, they recorded only their second senior Twenty20 win against a Full Member (they had beaten Bangladesh in the 2009 World Twenty20). "Once we had good preparation," said their Trinidadian coach Phil Simmons, "we came here and performed." Halfway through the second Twenty20 International, after restricting West Indies to 96 for nine, Ireland even had a series victory in their sights. But the hosts upped their game in the field to leave them 11 runs short. Ireland's batsmen improved in the one-day international which ended the tour, but this time the bowling was the weak link, handing West Indies a simple win.

This was Ireland's first tour since the retirement of Trent Johnston; with John Mooney pulling out after one game because of a stress-related condition, they had lost years of experience, and six of the squad were 24 or under.

Match reports for

Zone A: Guyana v Ireland at Port of Spain, Jan 31, 2014
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Zone A: Jamaica v Ireland at Port of Spain, Feb 3, 2014
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Zone A: Ireland v Windward Islands at Port of Spain, Feb 7, 2014
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Tour Match: Trinidad & Tobago A v Ireland at Couva, Feb 13, 2014
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Tour Match: Trinidad & Tobago A v Ireland at Couva, Feb 14, 2014
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1st T20I: West Indies v Ireland at Kingston, Feb 19, 2014
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2nd T20I: West Indies v Ireland at Kingston, Feb 21, 2014
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Only ODI: West Indies v Ireland at Kingston, Feb 23, 2014
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