WI vs IRE: Match Preview, West Indies vs Ireland 2021-22, 2nd ODI 

West Indies and Ireland will square up against each other in the second one-day international on Thursday at Sabina Park in Kingston. West Indies won the first game by 24 runs on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Another win will help them clinch the series. As for Ireland, it will be a must-win game for them. They would look to make a strong comeback. Here’s a look at how both the teams shape up ahead of the second one-day international.

WI vs IRE: Match Preview, West Indies vs Ireland 2021-22, 2nd ODI

West Indies:

Despite posting 269 runs in the first one-day international, West Indies wouldn’t be too pleased with their batting performance. They didn’t make a great start and the lower-order too didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. They managed to post a 250-plus total because of a valuable partnership between Kieron Pollard and Justin Greaves.

The duo added 155 runs for the fifth wicket. The team, however, would expect the other batsmen to step up to the plate as well. Playing his first one-day international, Justin Greaves impressed one and all with a stellar 93-run knock off 89 deliveries, including 9 fours and 3 sixes.

West Indies bowlers only managed to pick only a single wicket for the first 36 overs in the second innings. However, they bowled exceptionally well in the next 14 overs. Romario Shepherd brought West Indies back into the game after picking the wicket of well-set batsman Andrew Balbirnie. Odean Smith then picked the wicket of Harry Tector to put Ireland in all sorts of trouble.

West Indies picked wickets in short intervals thereafter and bundled Ireland out for 245 runs. Alzarri Joseph (3 for 55), Romario Shepherd (3 for 50), Akeal Hosein (1 for 35), Odean Smith (2 for 26) all bowled well and you don’t expect any changes to take place in the bowling department.

Ireland

Ireland fought hard in the first one-day international and but fell 24 runs short of the target. They took the first four wickets for 62 runs to put West Indies, on the backfoot. However, Kieron Pollard and Justin Greeves’ fifth-wicket partnership got West Indies back into the game. In the end, they managed to restrict West Indies to 269 runs. Their three prominent bowlers, Joshua Little (1 for 46), Mark Adair (3 for 38), and Craig Young (3 for 58) looked effective with the ball, and this is a positive sign for Ireland.

The team, however, would want to step up with the bat. Skipper Andrew Balbirnie (71 off 94) and Harry Tector (53 off 68) played valuable knocks with the bat. But other than that, there wasn’t any useful contribution with the bat. In a big boost for them, Paul Sterling has recovered from Covid-19 and has joined the camp. He is likely to play the second one-day international on Thursday. Having said that, the other batsmen need to step up to the plate and come up with substantial performances with the bat as well.