West Indies vs Ireland, 11th Match, First Round Group B at Hobart, T20 WC, Oct 21 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

A monumental victory for Ireland. The players are joyous as was their game today, taking them through to the next stage. Who will join them, find out as Scotland play Zimbabwe also in Hobart. Thanks for tuning in here. On behalf of my fellow commentator, Shashank Kishore, and our scorers Thilak Rama and M Venkat Raghav, I'm Ekanth, signing off.

Lots of questions will be asked about West Indies but for now, they will get some soul-searching time.

Siva: "Like my friend was just saying, what's interesting is this is not an Irish scramble for victory, it's a proper thrashing of a decent team. The other super 12s better beware "

Keyur: "This is why T20 Cricket can be level playing field for associate teams. After first match loss of SL against Namibia, people predicted SL and WI to be added to Group of India and Pakistan to make it even stronger - here you go, none of them are joining that group!"

Andy Balbirnie:It means everything, we had a disappointing loss last year. We changed a lot of things. To come back and beat two-time champions is delightful. Once we put ourselves in the super-12s, anything can happen. We can play three games here which can be great. It was a really good wicket today. His batting made it easier for me and vice-versa, Tucker and the bowlers were superb. Proud day to be Irish

A teary-eyed Nicholas Pooran is at the presentation: It's tough, we haven't batted well in this tournament and didn't today either. Ireland batted fantastically and bowled well. King is batting well, Alzarri bowled well. But we are disappointed and have disappointed the fans back home.

Gareth Delany, POTM: Incredible day for us, to get over the line in the fashion we did was amazing. Nathan Hauritz came up with the plan to keep it simple and be defensive, knowing they would come hard. Personally it's a dream come true, delighted. Campher's knock the other day gave us a chance and now we're through. Look forward to the next few weeks.

Uzair: "CONGRATS IRELAND! A very clinical win from Ireland. Let's not forget Ireland is a full ICC member. Ireland deserved to go qualify for Super 12s."

Dezz: "This then is a lesson to WI to make sure they qualify directly next time, rather than face the preliminary round!"

The win was set up by Delany, who restricted West Indies to a score probably 20-25 under par. Stirling and Balbirnie chanced their arm in the powerplay. West Indies held back Holder, didn't give Mayers the opening over - likely due to recent form - and McCoy and Hosein could not break through. That meant that whenever a risk came off, runs flowed. Ireland made 64 in the powerplay which was deal-sealing. Stirling took the backseat to steer the chase after Balbirnie fell. Tucker was out on a no ball and blazed through after.

6:15pm: Shipping up to Boston is playing and probably will for longer. Captain Pooran, Coach Simmons, and the rest of West Indies' set up watch sadly as their campaign ends early. Stirling shakes hands with the opponents after the completion, he's been out of form but what a time to regain it!

Start the tuck-tuck

Should be the last over. McCoy loses his run up and will reload.

More Ireland fans dancing now as the team verges win.

Imtiyaz: "If the Qualifiers are anything to go by, this promises to be a spectacular World Cup, filled with upsets, surprises and disappointment!"

Joseph walks back despondently, Hosein and Pooran look down too.

"Ireland!" chants return, one hit can win it now

Kamran: "Considering that all 3 Ireland batsmen have been able to time the ball decently and all West Indies bowlers have taken a beating, can we assume that the wicket is playing better now than it did earlier today?" Yes, and that Ireland's bowling was great.

Just 14 off 30 needed

Donald Alexande: "Those near misses against the Kiwis earlier this year have taught Ireland to win, a quick study."

Adhitya: "So happy for Stirling's knock. He played a similar one when Ireland came really close towards victory in the T20Is this year. "