Andy Balbirnie’s ninth ODI hundred and Barry McCarthy’s  four-wicket haul handed West Indies a 124-run thrashing in the first ODI in Dublin. It was Ireland’s biggest win by runs against a Full Member and their fourth biggest victory overall.

Balbirnie, who came into this game with scores of 91, 101 and 63 in the Inter-Provincial Cup, continued his good form and accumulated 112 off 138 balls to set the platform for Ireland’s eventual 303 for 6.

McCarthy then dismantled West Indies’ top order by taking three wickets with the new ball. Roston Chase and Matthew Forde resisted but only briefly. Fittingly, it was McCarthy who took the final wicket as West Indies were bowled out for 179 in 34.1 overs.

Earlier, after West Indies opted to bowl, Balbirnie found good support from captain Paul Stirling and Harry Tector, Both scored quick half-centuries to allow Balbirnie to play the anchor’s role he has been assigned. Stirling was the aggressor in the 109-run opening stand. During his 54 off 64 balls, he also became the first Ireland batter to reach 10,000 international runs.

While Cade Carmichael did not last long, Balbirnie and Tector kept Ireland going with a third-wicket stand of 98 in just 81 balls. Balbirnie took 88 balls to reach his fifty but stepped up after that. His second fifty came in 43 balls.

Alzarri Joseph ended that stand in the 44th over with Balbirnie’s wicket, but Tector’s 56 off 51 and Lorcan Tucker’s 30 off 18 ensured Ireland crossed 300.

West Indies did not have a great start to their chase and lost Evin Lewis in the third over of the innings. The batter’s attempt for a risky single proved to be fatal when he collided with the bowler, McCarthy, and failed to beat Tector’s direct hit from mid-off.

That was not the last time West Indies found McCarthy in their way. On the final ball of the seventh over, he had Keacy Carty caught at mid-on. In his next over, he dealt a double blow. He first had Brandon King caught behind and then trapped Amir Jangoo lbw.

Before West Indies could steady themselves, debutant Thomas Maves landed another blow. He cleaned up Shai Hope with a big inswinger, leaving the visitors on 31 for 5 in the tenth over.

Justin Greaves decided to fight fire with fire. He struck four fours off McCarthy in the 11th over and welcomed Josh Little into the attack with back-to-back fours. But Little had the last laugh when he had Greaves caught at slip for 35 off 17 balls.

Chase, the newly appointed Test captain, and Forde chose the conventional method to revive the innings. They bided their time and put away loose balls. Chase brought up his fifth half-century in ODIs as the pair added 98 in 107 balls for the seventh wicket.

George Dockerell though, ended West Indies’ resistance by castling Chase when the target was still 135 runs away. The end was swift. Dockrell dismissed Alzarri Joseph and Gudakesh Motie in his next over, and two balls later, McCarthy removed Forde to seal the win.

Still, it was not a flawless performance by Ireland. They left out a few runs in the middle and dropped three catches, something they will be keen to fix when the two sides meet again on Friday.

Brief scores:
Ireland 303 for 6 in 50 overs (Andy Balbirnie 112, Harry Tector 56,  Paul Stirling 54, Lorcan Tucker 30; Mathew Forde 3-68, Alzarri Joseph 2-51) beat West Indies 179 in 34.1 overs (Justin Greaves 35, Roston Chase 55, Mathew Forde 38;  Barry  McCarthy 4-32, George Dockrell 3-21) by 124 runs

[Cricinfo]

England turned the page on their T20 World Cup exit at the hands of West Indies with an eight-wicket victory in the opening match of their home series in Canterbury, despite a brilliant unbeaten century by Hayley Mathews.

Of West Indies’ total of 146 for 7, their captain, Matthews, scored exactly 100 off 67 balls, leading an understrength batting line-up missing Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry after England had won the toss. Only two of her team-mates reached double figures, with Mandy Mangru’s 17 from No.8 the next-best score.

In their first meeting since West Indies handed England a group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup in Dubai, Sophia Dunkley’s 78 not out gave her new-look side victory at the first time of asking under new head coach Charlotte Edwards and new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. She was beautifully supported by former captain Heather Knight, who finished unbeaten on 43.

Matthews posed a test for bowlers Em Arlott on debut, Issy Wong, attempting to cement her return to international cricket and Linsey Smith, acting as England’s sole left-arm spinner in the absence of Sophie Ecclestone. They claimed one wicket each, Smith the most economical with 1 for 18 off four overs. It was established seamer Lauren Bell who was the pick of the England bowlers with 2 for 29.

On the eve of the match, Edwards called for big runs and partnerships from her top five, and Dunkley and Knight responded with an unbroken third-wicket stand worth 91. Dunkley, opening in place of the dropped Maia Bouchier, joined Danni Wyatt-Hodge in reeling in the target in a opening stand of 50 in 5.2 overs. But Wyatt-Hodge perished when she was rapped on the pads by Zaida James and the ball ricocheted onto her stumps. That brought new captain Sciver-Brunt to the crease but she was caught behind off Afy Fletcher for a second-ball duck, and left looking rather bemused after a feathered edge on her slog-sweep was revealed on review.

Dunkley brought up her fifty off 34 balls with a cut through backward point off Fletcher. Put down on 62 by Aaliyah Alleyne, running in from long-on off Matthews’ bowling, Dunkley forged on. Knight took charge in striking three fours in four balls during the final over of James’s allocation and brought England to the brink of victory with another boundary off Cherry-Ann Fraser. Needing just one, Dunkley raised the win with a four as England won with 21 balls to spare.

Matthews smoked Smith over the fence at deep square leg in the third over but, with the first ball of the next and after a change of ends, Bell drew a leading edge from Qiana Joseph and – with England hearts firmly in mouths – Smith strode back from point, sat under it and held on. Bell made it two wickets from three balls when James slashed at one outside off and was caught behind for a duck.

All the while Matthews was cruising with immaculate shot placement, her three consecutive fours off Charlie Dean sublime as she swept and drove either side of a pull in front of square that bounced awkwardly on Smith as she moved to her right and parried it over the rope.

By the end of the powerplay, West Indies were 37 for 2. England looked notably sharper in the field than during the previous encounter between these sides – when five dropped catches cost them dearly in Dubai – but it was a lack of awareness by debutante Realeanna Grimmond that led to her run-out. After Matthews struck Issy Wong’s fourth delivery to mid-on and ran a single, Sciver-Brunt lobbed the ball to wicketkeeper Amy Jones over Grimmond, who had her back to the fielder in that moment and had no idea where the ball was as she turned for a second run, only for Jones to whip off the bails.

Matthews brought up her fifty off 38 balls and her side needed her more than ever when Sciver-Brunt took comfortable catches to remove Shabika Gajnabi and Alleyne off Wong and Arlott respectively. Wong fired the ball in to bowler Dean to run out Jannillea Glasgow to make it 87 for 6. Matthews survived on 73 when she sent a leading edge off Arlott towards point were Dean got her fingertips to it diving to her left.

Bell took a sharp catch leaping to her left at short fine leg to break a 47-run partnership for the seventh wicket – West Indies’ highest stand – removing Mangru for 17 in the penultimate over of the innings. Matthews went into the final over on 89 and she looked determined to reach her ton, punishing a Bell full toss through backward square for four. Another boundary clipped off the pads left her on 99 with one ball to go and she managed to reach the milestone with a desperate pull and scampered single, her delight palpable as she raised her bat.

Brief scores:
England Women  150 for 2 in 16.3 overs (Danni Wyat Hodge 17, Sophia Dunkley 81*, Heather Knight 43*; Zaida James 1-32, Afy Fletcher 1-27) beat West Indies Women 146 for 7in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 100*, Shabika Gajnabi 11, Mandy Mangru 17; Lauren Bell 2-29, Linsey Smith 1-18, Emily Arlott 1-28, Issy Wong 1-35) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

Alishan Sharafu’s composed half-century under pressure and Haider Ali’s splendid spell of 3 for 7 led UAE to a historic series win against Bangladesh in Sharjah. The hosts chased down 163 with seven wickets in hand to clinch the series 2-1, having already beaten the visitors by two wickets on Monday. It is UAE’s second T20I series win against a Full Member team, having beaten Ireland by the same margin in 2021.

Left-arm spinner Haider led the charge to reduce Bangladesh to 84 for 8, before they recovered to reach 162 for 9. Bangladesh, however, couldn’t quite use the momentum with the ball, as Sharafu, only 22, struck his eighth half-century in T20Is to anchor the chase. He struck five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 47-ball 68 as the chase went down to the last over. He added 87 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand with Asif Khan, who damaged Bangladesh with five sixes in his unbeaten 26-ball 41.

UAE didn’t quite get their chase off to the best of starts, though. After consecutive fifties in the first two games, captain Muhammad Waseem fell early in for 9 this time. Shoriful Islam got him to drive at a slightly wide one, edging to Tanzid Hassan at slip. Muhammad Zohaib then struck Hassan Mahmud for consecutive sixes in the fifth over, both times hitting through the line, one over long-on, and the other through extra cover.

Sharafu got his big-hitting going with a top-edged six off Tanzim Hasan in the seventh over, before Rishad Hossain cleaned up Zohaib for 29 with one that spun back into the left-hand batter. Rahul Chopra was the next to go just after the halfway mark, heaving at a slower bouncer from Tanzim to midwicket for 13.

Sharafu didn’t get bothered by UAE being three down and the equation reading 84 required off 56. He ramped Tanzim for a six over deep third two balls after Chopra’s wicket. He pinged the same bowler in his next over for a four through point, but then UAE were kept quiet for about 16 deliveries that left UAE to get 53 to win from 30.

Sharafu then hammered Rishad down the ground at the start of the 16th over, with Tanzid parrying the catch at long-off for a six. Asif, always on the prowl for big hits, also smacked Rishad for consecutive sixes in the same over to make it a 19-run over. It brought the required run rate down from 10.60 to 8.50 and 34 to get from the last four.

Sharafu finished the next over with a cracking four through the covers and Asif smashed Mahmud over midwicket next ball to bring it close to a run-a-ball equation. With 14 to win from 12, Asif clubbed two more sixes in the penultimate over off Tanzim on the off side before Sharafu aptly struck the winning runs next over, a blistering cover drive off Mahmud.

Waseem used four different bowlers to bowl the first four overs after winning the toss, and the fourth of those did the trick. Haider struck with his first ball, trapping the Bangladesh captain Litton Das lbw for 14. Litton missed his sweep after going across too far that exposed his middle and leg stumps, but he was disappointed on being given out.

Towhid Hridoy was also given out lbw two balls later, as he charged down and missed the ball, which struck the front pad. The raised finger caused pandemonium in the UAE side, with Haider jumping all over the place.

Haider finished with a double-wicket maiden, before removing Mahedi Hasan, who was trying to cut against a delivery that came back to hit the top of leg stump. Haider remained accurate in his next two overs too, giving him magical figures in just his third T20I.

Tanzid batted exactly the opposite to how his team-mates had been going about it. He started with a couple of big hits in the first over, he lofted Matiullah Khan for his second six in the third over, before hammering Dhruv Parashar for consecutive sixes in the fifth over after Bangladesh had lost three wickets. Tanzid sweetly timed two more fours off Akif Raja before the seamer bowled him with the around-the-wicket angle in the seventh over.

Both Parashar and Raja supported Haider, as did Matiullah after the halfway mark. Matiullah, who was expensive in the first two games, removed Shamim Hossain and Rishad in the space of four balls. Saghir Khan then had Tanzim caught at long-on, as Bangladesh were in risk of getting bowled out for less than 100.Jaker struck a couple of sixes to get Bangladesh past the 100-run mark, all the while needing the physio’s attention due to exhaustion. Mahmud struck Matiullah for his first six in the 18th over, before Jaker struck his third six, a blast down the ground in the penultimate over. Jaker, however, fell next ball, slicing Saghir to deep backward point for an easy catch. No. 11 Shoriful then deposited Saghir over the midwicket fence and Bangladesh had started to put up a respectable total.Waseem’s decision to bowl the last over backfired, as he went for 23 runs in five balls. He was taken off the attack for bowling too many high full-tosses. Sharafu had to complete the over, as his only delivery went for three runs.

Brief scores:
United Arab Emirates 166 for 3 in 19.1 overs (Muhammad Zohaib 29, Alishan Sharafu 68*, Rahul Chopra 13, Asif Khan 41*; Shoriful Islam 1-24, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-40, Rishad Hossain 1-42) beat Bangladesh 162 for 9 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 40,Litton Das 14, Jaker Ali 41, Hasan Mahmud 26*, Shoriful Islam 16*;  Akif Raja 1-27, Dhruv Parashar 1-24, Matiullah Khan 2-41,  Haider Ali 3-07, Saghir Khan 2-36) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]