Ireland begin their tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday when they meet the West Indies in the first ODI of three before the shortest format of the game kicks in next week. The opening 50 over game comes from Barbados.
West Indies are looking to rebuild their stock in this format of the game while Ireland are looking to prove that they belong at the top tier of international cricket. Ireland have good memories of the Caribbean and will be looking to revive them here.
West Indies
The West Indies have been fairly busy in the 50 over game in recent times and after a disappointing World Cup they know they have to get better at it. To their credit they arrive in this series off the back of pushing India as close as they could have done away from home just prior to Christmas. We saw the good and the areas where work is needed in that series but they should have taken plenty of confidence away from that even in defeat.
We saw in that series that West Indies remain explosive and brutal with the bat, but what we also saw is that they lack the resources with the ball to make early inroads on good pitches and that good teams can get away from them in the middle order. If they are going to be a force in 50 over cricket once again it is important that their bowling skills improve. In terms of the batting they have arguably the most exciting line up in the game now.
Ireland
This is a big series for Ireland. While they are looking to make big strides in the Test arena, they are still needing to give of their all in ODI cricket in order to make it into events like the World Cup. The problem they have is that they don’t get as many chances to take on the established Test sides as they should and it is only facing those which will allow them to improve. When these opportunities do come along they have to make the most of them.
Ireland have always been a very handy side with the bat and even now that remains their strongest suit. If they are going to progress and become the force they want to be, regularly qualifying for the big events and establishing themselves at this level, it is with the ball where they need to improve. A lot of their cricket is played in the Middle East and sub-continent so it would be helpful if they could find some top level spin or reverse swing options.
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Team News
West Indies have named their squad for the first two matches of this series and it is bad news for the home fans as local man Jason Holder has been rested for them. Their squad aside from that is the same as the one which went to India so it could be that Romario Shepherd replaces him.
Ireland are led by Andrew Balbirnie these days and he also looks to have a full strength squad at his disposal, although that no longer includes Tim Murtagh who retired from international cricket towards the end of last year. Boyd Rankin could be a big player.
Betting
I think this series could get off to an entertaining beginning. There is no doubt in my mind that these two teams are a whole lot better with the bat than they are the ball so I like the sixes to come fairly readily on a Kensington Oval pitch that is known to be good for batting, and perhaps most importantly where the ropes aren’t the furthest away and the boundaries are accessible on all parts of the ground.
West Indies just hit sixes when they bat. They can’t help themselves but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for us here. The line for this match is down at 11.5 but I suspect that is the case because the odds makers aren’t expecting Ireland to contribute too many to the pot. I suspect they might though. They are a confident batting unit and there will be enough ill-discipline from the West Indies bowlers to help them in that quest. If West Indies bat first they could cover this total on their own but I’m not convinced they’ll need to.
Tips
Back Over 11.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betway
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