FLORENCE HALL, Trelawny — Ireland scored a surprise seven-run win over Jamaica as the Twenty-20 version of the Supreme Ventures Sports Betting Cricket Festival got under way at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium here yesterday.

After making a modest 127 in 19.1 overs, Ireland defended with disciplined bowling and fielding to restrict a wayward Jamaica to 120-9 off their 20 overs.

The win avenged Jamaica’s six-wicket win in a 50-overs game at Port Rhoades Sports Club in Discovery Bay last week.

Jamaica will face Canada this morning as the tournament continues.

Ireland, who surprised Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup in Kingston and also beat Sri Lanka, were led by a good team effort as four bowlers took two wickets each on a slow pitch as the Jamaican batsmen played reckless shots.

Phil Simmonds, the coach of Ireland, was happy for the win and said despite his team not making enough runs, he was “happy for the fighting spirit shown by the team in defending a small total”.

Simmons said they were taking part in the tournament to get the players acclimatised for the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the Caribbean and said that by the time they got to Guyana for their first-round games, the team should be ready to play good cricket.

Jamaica left out Dean Morgan and teenager Kemar Marshall from the 13 and brought in Tacky High schoolboy Jon Ross Campbell, who played in the Headley Cup semi-finals against St Elizabeth Technical last week.

Coach Junior Bennett bemoaned the failure of the top-order batting, saying that on a slow pitch they “played bad shots; we have not played the shorter version of the game well lately and have a lot of work to do”.

Set what was expected to be an easy run chase, the Jamaicans struggled early as the top order failed and they lost their first six wickets for 71 runs and, except for some late big hitting, the margin of defeat could have been wider.

Brenton Parchment, who made five, and Danza Hyatt, who made 18, put on 23 for the first wicket, but the next five wickets fell for the addition of a mere 48 runs as only captain Tamar Lambert and Carlton Baugh Jnr got into double figures, both making 11.

However, a run-a-ball 20 from top scorer Odean Brown, including one six, propped up the innings as Jamaica were left with a target of 33 from the last three overs and 19 from the last over to get an improbable win, but fell short.

Left-arm spinner Gary Kidd, Andre Botha, Trent Johnston and Pete Connell took two wickets each for Ireland.

The Irish had a similar start after winning the toss and batting first as after Paul Stirling (18) and Nial O’Brien (8) took the score to 24 for the first wicket, they lost three wickets for 27 runs before captain William Porterfield with 14, Johnston with 22 and John Mooney with 14 pushed them to their modest total.

Bevon Brown was the most successful bowler for Jamaica with three wickets for 20 off four overs, while left-arm medium fast bowler Khrishmar Santokie took two for 25 and Andrew Richardson, Andre Russell, Odean Brown and Hyatt one each.