The nephew Lendl Simmons scored a hundred but at the end of the day, the uncle Phil Simmons was smiling as his team Ireland created an upset by defeating the West Indies in their ICC 2015 World Cup opener at Saxton Oval in Nelson, New Zealand yesterday.
Lendl Simmons scored 102 and together with Darren Sammy took the West Indies to 304 for seven off their 50 overs, after they were tottering at 87 for five. Paul Sterling (92), Ed Joyce (84) and Niall O'Brien (79 not out) aided by pathetic bowling, then took Ireland home at 307 for six off 45.5 overs.
Set a hefty target off 303 runs for victory, Ireland was quick off the blocks and never looked back. The West Indies bowlers adopted bad lines and lengths and were just waiting for something to happen but it never did. Openers William Porterfield and Stirling knocked 61 off the 10-over powerplay and although Chris Gayle sent back the former for 23, this was only a temporary reprieve.
Joyce, the best of the Irish batsmen came to the fore and played some classy shots along the way. Stirling was served a number of sumptuous offerings that he sent to boundary, as his countrymen who were gulping down Guiness, were all too happy to hurl back. While he and Joyce were at the crease it was hard to see where a wicket would come from.
With Sterling approaching a century Marlon Samuels was summoned into the attack and induced an edge to Denesh Ramdin. His 92 was made off 84 balls with nine fours and three sixes.
Joyce motored on and found an able ally in O'Brien and they took their team close to victory before Joyce fell. The left hander made 84 off just 67 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. O'Brien stayed to the end when the upset came - getting 79 not out off 60 balls with 11 fours.
Earlier, Ireland won the toss much to the delight of their fans here, who were cheering everything. They enjoyed the first hour and a half play, as the men in green were up for the fight and crippled the West Indies top order.
Dwayne Smith playing his 100th ODI would have loved to have scored a century but instead all be did was matched his average making 18. Darren Bravo was then run out without facing a ball to make matters worst. Chris Gayle played himself in but the urge to go over the top on a slow pitch was too inviting and led to his downfall. On facing his 65th ball, he tried to clear the long boundary was caught for 37. He struck three fours and a customary six.
The man creating the havoc was George Dockrell who was actually dropped by English County Somerset last season. The left arm spinner followed with the wickets of Marlon Samuels (21) and Denesh Ramdin (1), within the space of nine runs and West Indies slipped to 87 for five.
The embattled Simmons was joined by the former captain Sammy and the two buckled down to play cricket. They showed an appetite for the contest and slowly West Indies cricket started to look good under the rolling hills of Richmond Range.
The West Indies 100 came up off 27 overs and with still 23 overs to go Simmons and Sammy settled in nicely to play proper cricket. Sammy, as is his style struck some meaty blows, while Simmons was clinical in his strike rotation. The cold blustery morning gave way to a warm embrace by afternoon and the pitch flattened out nicely. Batting became easier the runs started to flow.
Sammy was first to fifty and Simmons followed soon after. On reaching thelandmark,Simmons slammed 22 runs in one over from Red Steel player Kevin O'Brien to break the shackles. Sammy on the other end was blazing guns and raced to his highest ODI score of 89, before throwing his hand away with a century looming.
He and Simmons equalled the highest sixth wicket stand by the West Indies in ODI cricket. The 154 they added, matched the efforts of current manager Richie Richardson and Jeff Dujon against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1991.
Sammy's 89 came off 67 balls with nine hits to the fence and four into the ground on the wonderful grass embankment. With Sammy came in cylinder which served as the pavilion, Andre Russell had the perfect situation to walk out to. He had five overs and licensed to hit and he did, scoring a rapid 27 not out.
During his innings, he witnessed Simmons leaping in the air to celebrate his first World Cup and second ODI century. His milestone came up off 83 balls nine fours and five sixes. Simmons left in the last over but the work was done and West Indies closed on 304 for seven off their 50 overs. The last 10 overs was really productive for the Caribbean men as they counted 124 runs.
The West Indies now licks their wounds and travel to Christchurch where they play Pakistan on Monday.
SCOREBOARD
WI vs Ireland
WI inns
D Smith c Mooney b K O'Brien 18
C Gayle c K O'Brien b Dockrell 37
D Bravo run out 0
M Samuels lbw Dockrell 21
D Ramdin lbw Dockrell 1
L Simmons c Dockrell b Sorensen 102
D Sammy c Dockrell b Mooney 89
A Russell not out 27
J Holder not out 0
Extras 1lb, 9w 10
Total for 7 wkts 304
Fall of wkts: 30, 31, 78, 78, 87, 241, 302.
Bowling: J Mooney 7-1-59-1, M Sorensen 8-0-64-1, A McBrine 10-1-26-0, K O'Brien 9-0-71-1, G Dockrell 10-0-50-3, P Stirling 6-0-33-0.
Ireland inns
W Portfield c Ramdin b Gayle 23
P Sterling c Ramdin b Samuels 92
Ed Joyce c Bravo b Taylor 84
N O'Brien not out 79
A Balbirnie c Bravo b Taylor 9
G Wilson c Gayle b Taylor 1
K O'Brien run out 0
J Mooney not out 6
Extras b4, w9 13
Total for 6 wkts(45.5) 307
Fall of wkts: 71, 177, 273, 285, 290, 291.
Bowling: 9-1-44-0, K Roach 6-0-52-0, J Taylor 8.5-0-71-3, A Russell 6-0-33-0, C Gayle 8-0-41-1, D Sammy 3-0-25-0, M Samuels 4-0-25-1, L Simmons 1-0-12-0.
Result: Ireland won by 6 wkts.
Man-of-match: Paul Sterling.
Points: Ireland 2, West Indies 0.