Andy McBrine shined with both bat and ball to propel Ireland to a victory in the decider on January 16 that allowed them to clinch their maiden ODI series victory over West Indies.
McBrine picked up four wickets and scored a watchful half-century in a low-scoring fixture to take the Irishmen to their first-ever series win against a full-member other than Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.
The experienced Irish batsman had a field day in both departments and bagged figures of 4/28 off his 10 overs to help his team dismiss the opposition for 212 and then made a crucial 59 off 100 balls to push them to victory by two wickets despite a mini-collapse towards the end.
Andy McBrine’s ODI series:
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) January 16, 2022
🏏 Match 1: 2-52 and 34*
🏏 Match 2: 4-36 and 35
🏏 Match 3: 4-28 and 59#GoAndy #BackingGreen ☘️🏏 pic.twitter.com/dbrb0EFxiI
For his brilliance in either skill, the 28-year-old was handed the ‘Player of the Match’ award, plus the ‘Player of the Series’ honour for consistent showing with the ball.
Pacer Craig Young was the other stand-out performer with the ball for Ireland on the day, taking three for 43. West Indies had opener Shai Hope top-scoring with a quickfire 53 off 39 balls. But outside experienced allrounder Jason Holder (44), the rest of the batting unit couldn’t hold its own against some tight, disciplined Irish bowling.
In the second half, other than McBrine, Herry Tector produced another vital half-century (52 off 76) for his team. The youngster, who was one of the heroes of Ireland’s win in the second ODI, continued his rich vein of form and played an instrumental role in his country’s unprecedented series win.
At the top, stand-in skipper Paul Stirling played a fine knock of 44. The trio of Stirling, McBrine and Tector saw through a major portion of the run-chase, which meant that Ireland could reach the winning post despite suffering a collapse from 152/2 to 214/8.
Double strike from Roston Chase getting wicket of 🇮🇪 top scorer @harry_tector @cricketireland now six down #WIvIRE #MenInMaroon
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) January 16, 2022
Live Scorecard⬇️https://t.co/GrfgfOqvve pic.twitter.com/ro7hO75fFX
Spinners Akeal Hosein (3/59) and Roston Chase (3/44) picked up six wickets between them. But in the end, Windies lacked enough runs on the board.
With their 2-1 series triumph, Ireland also earned 20 points towards the 2023 qualification process and added two wins over West Indies to their bag of victories in the Super League, where they have also defeated England and South Africa previously.
Brief scores
West Indies 212/10 in 44.4 overs (Hope 53, Holder 44; McBrine 4/28) lost to Ireland 214/8 in 44.5 overs (McBrine 59, Tector 52; Chase 3/44) by 2 wickets
