Marty Melville—AFP
Irish victory marked first by a team batting second in five games so far of the 2015 World Cup.
Ireland pulled off the biggest shock of the World Cup so far when they downed two-time champions West Indies by four wickets in Nelson on Monday.
The victory, the first by a team batting second in five games so far, followed on from Ireland’s famous wins over England at the 2011 World Cup and Pakistan four years earlier.
Chasing 305 to win at Saxton Oval, they coasted home with Paul Stirling making 92, Ed Joyce 84 and Niall O’Brien not out on 79. The West Indies made 304 for seven after being sent into bat in the Pool B fixture.
Lendl Simmons made 102 and Darren Sammy posted his highest ODI score of 89. For Ireland, George Dockrell took three for 50.
“It’s great to get that winning start,” said Stirling whose side clinched victory in the 46th over. “It was nice to get a few runs. It was a good toss to win. We knew the pitch would get better and better and we were able to chase it down.”