Ireland's cricketers were put to the sword by their Jamaican hosts on Wednesday, as the locals registered a comfortable six wicket win in their Jamaica Cricket Festival clash in Discovery Bay, St Ann.
Batting first, after being sent in by Jamaican captain Tamar
Lambert, the Irish could only manage 227 all out in 49.3 overs on
what appeared to be a troublesome pitch, as pacer Andre Russell
continued his fine form, tormenting the opposition with 5 for 40 off
9.3 overs.
In reply, opener Danza Hyatt scored 102 runs off 106 balls with David Bernard Jr providing support with an unbeaten 52 off as many balls to lead the Jamaicans to victory in the 48th over.
Hyatt’s knock consisted of 13 ferocious fours and a six, as he took
the Irish bowlers to task throughout his aggressive innings.
Carlton Baugh, who contributed a swift 24 off 20 balls, was also in
good form towards the end as the Jamaicans continued their success in front of an appreciative crowd.
Irish wicketkeeper Gary Wilson – who was one of Russell’s
victims – played his way to 56 runs before he was caught in the
deep by Odean Brown during Russell’s second spell, which saw him switching his approach from the northern to the southern end.
Wilson got support from his skipper, William Porterfield (43), with
whom he shared a 71-run partnership for the third wicket.
Ireland were, however, never in control of the match and failed to
really recover from their poor start after sitting uncomfortably on
2-29 at one point, before losing their last six wickets for a mere 59 runs.
Lambert was also in fine bowling form, claiming two wickets of his
own towards the end at a cost of 10 runs in his three overs, while
Krishmar Santokie helped himself to 2 for 36 off his 10 overs.
Porterfield was disappointed with his team's batting display, but
took heart from their efforts in the field and remained positive in
light that it was their second match in two months.
‘Everything started well, I think, and we were hoping to get 270 runs but it all went wrong from the 30th over,’ said Porterfield. ‘No one likes to lose but we are not overly disappointed. We have to look at the bigger picture because we bowled really well but we now have to pick things up.’
