Ireland Tri-Nation Series 2019, Match 4, Ireland vs Windies, Match Prediction – Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live Streaming Details

It's a must-win contest for William Porterfield and Co.

Published - 10 May 2019, 20:01 IST | Updated - 10 May 2019, 20:01 IST

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The last match of the triangular series between Ireland and Bangladesh at The Village in Dublin was abandoned by rain. It meant that Bangladesh moved to the top of the points table with six points from two encounters. Ireland, after their 196-run defeat versus the Caribbean team, would’ve been disappointed as they needed to get a couple of points under their belt in their second contest.

The William Porterfield-captained team is now scheduled to lock horns with the Windies tomorrow and it’s a must-win affair for them. Their NRR also isn’t in the greatest of shapes with the same being -3.920. In the first game, the Irish bowlers came under severe hammering by the Windies batters, especially John Campbell and Shai Hope. This time, they are needed to deliver in the crunch game.

Pitch Report

The pitch is expected to be good for batting. Teams have put up scores of 300 plus in a number of instances. Bearing in mind the nature of the strip, teams are likely to field first and chase whatever the opposition sets for them. The fast bowlers need to do a chunk of the work as the deck won’t have much for the spin bowlers.

Weather Report

Thankfully, there’s little chance of rain tomorrow. There won’t be much of a cloud cover either. The atmosphere will be nice and cool with the temperature around the 11 degrees Celsius and 13 degrees Celsius. The humidity won’t be a matter of concern for the players either.

Team Combination

Ireland

Ireland may give James McCollum a chance in place of Lorcan Tucker, who scored a duck in the last game. McCollum scored a century in the warm-up game versus Bangladesh. The onus will be on Paul Stirling and William Porterfield to give their team a good start. The hosts may also replace Mark Adair with Boyd Rankin. Adair got one wicket but conceded 84 runs against the Windies last time.

Probable XI

William Porterfield (C), Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker/James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, Gary Wilson (wk), George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Boyd Rankin, Tim Murtagh, Joshua Little

Windies

The Windies may bring back John Campbell, who missed the last game due to a sore back, in place of Sunil Ambris. The latter got 38 against the Tigers but didn’t look at his best. Apart from Roston Chase, the Windies middle-order looked lacklustre in their previous contest. In the bowling department, the role of pacers- Gabriel, Cotrell, Roach and Holder- will be important. Nurse is the lone spinner.

Probable XI

Shai Hope (wk), Sunil Ambris/John Campbell, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Jonathan Carter, Jason Holder (C), Shane Dowrich, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel

Probable Top Performer

William Porterfield- Ireland

With almost 4,000 runs in 129 matches, the southpaw has been a prolific batsman for his national team. However, after his 92 versus the UAE in March 2018, he has notched only 145 runs in 13 games at a forgettable average of 12.08. In eight of those games, he went into double figures, but couldn’t convert the starts. The veteran needs to step up for his team at the earliest.

Shai Hope- Windies

Hope has been in the form of his life in the 50-overs format. In his last 14 games, he has scored five half-centuries at a gigantic average of 90.90. In the ongoing series, Hope has scores of 170 and 109. He is also one of the reasons why Windies levelled the ODI series against England. The Carribean team would want him to carry on with his rich vein of form going into the World Cup as well.