FRESH from their huge 208-run win over Canada, the West Indies will today take aim at Ireland in a One-Day International at Sabina Park in the Supreme Ventures Sports Betting (SVSB) Jamaica Cricket Festival.

Hosts West Indies and Ireland are using the event to fine-tune for the Twenty20 World Cup later this month where, along with England, they will compete in group D.

Despite Ireland’s low ranking in world cricket, many will recall their stunning victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh at the 2007 50- over Cricket World Cup here in the Caribbean.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy is aware of the danger and insists Ireland will not be taken lightly as his team prepares to battle them in the World T20 opener on April 30.

“We will not take them lightly (because), they are a competitive team. We will just try to do the basics right and be consistent in our performances; whether it be batting, bowling or fielding… and play as a team. By the time we head to Guyana for the Twenty20 we’ll be ready,” he said.

The teams met in a Twenty20 game on April 11 with the Caribbean team coming out comfortable 31-run winners at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium. In that game, Ireland were restricted to 112 for seven, chasing 144 for victory.

Trent Johnston and Paul Stirling were the only Irishmen to get past 20 as seamers Sammy, Ravi Rampaul and David Bernard Jr all delivered stifling spells.

Lanky left-arm orthodox spinner Sulieman Benn, who opened the bowling, along with Rampaul, finished with best figures of two wickets for 12 runs from his allotted four overs.

Coach Phil Simmons will be less concerned with the bowling department as they performed creditably in holding down the Caribbean men to a modest 143 for eight.

Opening bowlers Kevin O’brien (1-14 from three overs) and Johnston (2-19 from four) bowled tight spells, while spinner Stirling (1-13 from four) underlined his all-round worth with another miserly performance with the ball.

In fact, in that game only Narsingh Deonarine (40 runs from 32 balls) and Sammy (28 from 15) managed to loosen the shackles somewhat.

Thanks to a well-paced century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies batsmen appeared to have shaken off their ordinary start to the Festival by piling up an imposing 316-4 in 50 overs against Canada on Tuesday.

Notable contributions also came from young batsmen Darren Bravo and Andre Fletcher, who made 74 and 48, respectively.

Ramnaresh Sarwan also showed form after just recovering from a back injury in his cavalier knock late on. Deonarine, who has hardly put a foot wrong over the past few months at the senior level, was also impressive in his better than run-a-ball knock.

Sammy told reporters after that game he was pleased his batsmen finally took the opportunity to stay at the crease for a longer period.

“In the previous two games our batting didn’t really hit our targets so it’s nice to see the batsmen spending some time in the middle and putting some runs on the board, so that’s something we will try and improve on,” he said.