Pacer Sheldon Cottrell hit a six off the second to last ball of the last over of the match from medium-pacer Mark Adair to give the West Indies a one-wicket win over Ireland in the second one-day international at the Kensington Oval in Barbados last night.
The nailbiting finish, which came two balls after Cottrell survived a run out thanks to an error from Adair, helped skipper Kieron Pollard's side clinch the series 2-0 with one match to go.
With Cottrell nowhere close to making his ground off the third ball of the final over, Adair failed to gather a return throw from the covers cleanly, fumbled the ball and broke the stumps with his hand before the ball actually hit the wicket. After several replays, TV umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge ruled Cottrell not out and the Windies got the run to move to 235-9.
Hayden Walsh then hit the next ball into the covers and the pair ran for one but Cottrell was determined to get a second. But after he turned and almost made it back to the other end, he realised Walsh had not moved. Luckily, the return throw went to the wrong end and Cottrell, despite slipping on his way back, managed to return to the striker's end safely.
And in the very next ball, with two needed to win, Cottrell blasted Adair over the extra cover boundary to seal a sweet win brought home by the tailenders after the top order earlier made a meal of what was expected to be an easy run chase.
The West Indies had to depend on their tailenders after Pollard and Nicholas Pooran, who shared in a 64-run fifth-wicket partnership, were quickly sent back to the pavilion after a restart following a short rain delay after they themselves had launched a fightback as the Irish removed the top half of the batting order cheaply.
Pooran scored 52 before he was bowled by a beauty from spinner Simi Singh which seamed past his bat as he played forward and clipped the top of the bails. The West Indies slid to 140 for five and two runs later, Pollard was caught in two minds to a short-pitched delivery from Barry Mc Carthy and managed to spoon a catch which the bowler gleefully accepted.
After Romario Shepherd (8) was also sent back as quickly as he strode to the wicket, Walsh, who ended unbeaten on 46, then shared in three key partnerships with Khary Pierre (18), Joseph (16) and Cottrell (7 not out) as they ground out the win.
Man-of-the-match Joseph also bagged four wickets for 32 runs in the Irish innings, the exact figures he got in the opening match, as the visitors were restricted to 237-9. Opener Paul Stirling top-scored with 63 for the Irish.
Speaking afterwards, Joseph said he was relieved to have contributed with both bat and ball in the win, but noted it was a team effort.
"The wicket was a bit more even than the first game, so I assessed early and bowl to the plan. As I said in the first game, we have full support from the captain. We wanted to bat sensibly and get to the score. When I went out to bat, there were a lot of balls to get there and I was looking to play ball every ball on merit. The win means a lot to everyone, but it's not finished, we have one game to go," he said.
SCOREBOARD
Ireland inns.
P. Stirling b Joseph*63
G. Delany c Joseph b Cottrell*14
A. Balbirnie b Joseph*10
W. Porterfield c Joseph b Pierre*29
K. O'Brien c Cottrell b Joseph*31
L. Tucker c Lewis b Joseph*1
S. Singh c Hope b Cottrell*34
M. Adair run out (Pooran)*13
A. McBrine lbw b Cottrell*8
B. McCarthy not out*17
B.Rankin not out*4
EXTRAS: (lb3, w10)*13
TOTAL: for 9 wkts (50)*237
Wkts at: 1-25, 2-51, 3-110, 4-129, 5-135, 6-154, 7-192, 8-210, 9-224.
BOWLING: S. Cottrell 10-0-51-3, R. Shepherd 10-1-39-0, K. Pierre 10-0-50-1, A. Joseph 10-1-32-4, K. Pollard 2-0-15-0, H.Walsh 8-0-47-0
West Indies inns.
S. Hope lbw b Singh*25
E. Lewis c Rankin b McBrine*7
S. Hetmyer c Tucker b McCarthy*6
B. King c Tucker b Rankin*0
N. Pooran b Singh*52
K. Pollard c&b McCarthy*40
R. Shepherd c Stirling b Singh*8
K. Pierre c Stirling b Mc Brine*18
H. Walsh not out*46
A. Joseph c Stirling b Adair*16
S. Cottrell not out*7
EXTRAS: (lb9, w8)*
TOTAL: for 9 wkts*242 (49.5)
Wkts at: 1-17, 2-24, 3-24, 4-76, 5-140, 6-142, 7-148, 8-200, 9-232.
BOWLING: A.McBrine 10-0-37-1, B. McCarthy 10-1-28-2, B.Rankin 10-0-36-1, M.Adair 7.5-0-51-1, S.Singh 10-1-48-3, G.Delany 2-0-33-0.