Romario Shepherd stood tall with his maiden One-Day International half century, but the West Indies fell to Ireland on Thursday, as the CG Insurance Series resumed. Shepherd combined with fellow lower-order batsman Odean Smith to lift the West Indies innings but Ireland’s overall supremacy on the day saw them record victory on the Duckworth Lewis Stern method in the rain affected match.
The result has now left the three-match rubber even 1-1. This has set up a grand finale in the third and final match slated for the same venue on Sunday. First ball is 9:30am (10:30am East Caribbean).
Ireland reached their revised target of 168 for the loss of five wickets with 20 balls to spare – after West Indies had initially scored 229. They were rescued by key innings from the calm Shepherd who made 50 off 41 balls with seven boundaries, and the powerful Smith with 46 off just 19 balls with two fours and five towering sixes.
The pair combined to register a shot-filled 58-run ninth-wicket stand in just 4.3 overs to aid West Indies in crossing the 200 mark and provide the bowlers a target to defend. Shepherd’s innings made him the seventh West Indian batsman to reach 50 batting at Number 9. Smith’s score was the highest by a Number 10 batsman at Sabina Park.
Speaking after the match Shepherd said: “When I went in there were a lot of overs remaining so the job was to stay there to the end of the innings. When Odean came in he took a lot of weight off me with the way he played. My innings was a supporting role to him. This is a start for me and a foundation but I want to be able to repeat this kind of performance in the other matches upcoming as well.”