Guyana 301 for 3 (Sarwan 89*, Chanderpaul 79, K O'Brien 3-56) beat Ireland 187 (Poynter 54, K O'Brien 39, Wintz 3-30) by 114 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ramnaresh Sarwan spoiled any hopes Ireland had of getting their Caribbean tour off to a winning start by blitzing the visitors for a ruthless 89 not out off 62 balls in a 114-run win for Guyana at Queen's Park Oval. Sarwan took full advantage of an excellent platform laid by openers Trevon Griffith and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made Ireland pay for sending Guyana in to bat first by putting on 129 runs for the first wicket.
Griffith and Chanderpaul were hardly troubled during their lengthy partnership, milking runs on a slow pitch that offered little assistance to the bowlers. Both men fell attempting to accelerate the scoring rate, Griffith courtesy of a brilliant catch by Max Sorensen at mid off to intercept a lofted drive while Tim Murtagh took a more straightforward chance at mid on off a similar shot to get rid of Chanderpaul. Kevin O'Brien claimed his third wicket when he induced a top edge from Christopher Barnwell to midwicket off a slower ball to make it 225 for 3 midway through the 45th over.
O'Brien lacked support though and the rest of the Ireland bowling unit struggled to find the right length in the final overs, bowling a string of full tosses in the process. Alex Cusack was given the harshest treatment, torched for 21 off the final over as Guyana surged in the final five overs with 73 runs to eclipse 300.
Ireland's chances of chasing the total were dealt a major blow ahead of the match when Paul Stirling was ruled out with a hamstring strain. Niall O'Brien had no reason to complain when he was struck full on the crease to an inswinger from Paul Wintz five balls into the chase. Captain William Porterfield was harshly given out to Ronsford Beaton to a ball that struck him high before Wintz claimed Gary Wilson to a tame drive to cover. Wintz snapped up his third wicket when Cusack dragged a full delivery onto his stumps to leave Ireland 27 for 4 three balls into the ninth over.
Kevin O'Brien chased Wintz out of the attack by smashing him for two fours and a six in the 11th and teamed with Andrew Poynter to help Ireland save face with a 59-run partnership. It came to an end when O'Brien missed a sweep to a flatter delivery from Devendra Bishoo and was pegged on the back leg in front of middle. Poynter should have been out for 16 in the next over when he edged an attempted cut into Leon Johnson's lap at slip off Veerasammy Permaul.
Poynter made the most of his reprieve to top score with 54 before he got into a mixup with Sorensen and was runout to make it 140 for 7 in the 31st. Ireland folded a short time later with Sorensen the last wicket to fall for 29 driving Beaton to Chanderpaul at mid off. Beaton finished with 2 for 41 while Wintz had his figures slightly spoiled by O'Brien but still managed a respectable return of 3 for 30. Guyana earned a bonus point due to their wide margin of victory.
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