Balbirnie Century Guides Ireland to Commanding Win Over WI

Ireland led by a blistering century from opener Andrew Balbirnie, administered a crushing 124 run on the West Indies in the first of their three match One Day International series at Castle Avenue in Dublin.

Balbirnie slammed 112 off 76 balls with nine fours and four sixes to help steer the Irish to 303 for 6 in their 50 overs.

He starred in an opening stand of 109 with skipper Paul Stirling who weighed in with 54. Harry Tector, 56, and wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker, 30, also scored well against Matthew Forde, 3 for 68, and Alzarrie Joseph, 2 for 51.

In reply, the West Indies slumped to 71 for 6 after 15 overs, before eventually crumbling to 179 all out in the 35th over.

Roston Chase led the batting with 55, Forde chipped in with 38 and Justin Greaves 35. Barry McCarthy ended with 4 for 32 and George Dockrell 3 for 21.

The second game will be played on Friday at Clontarf starting at 4:45 am Jamaica time.