WEST Indies registered their second Twenty/20 victory over Ireland in the Supreme Ventures Sports Betting (SVSB) Jamaica Cricket Festival at Sabina Park yesterday.

Set a target of 172, Ireland made a spirited attempt but buckled under pressure late on to fall short by 18 runs with three wickets still in hand.

Earlier, West Indies had won the toss and batted with openers Andre Fletcher and veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul starting off positively.

This did not last long, however, as the young Grenadian dragged a Peter Connell delivery onto the onside where John Mooney came in off the mid-wicket boundary to take a comfortable catch.

His demise paired Chanderpaul with Wavell Hinds and they treated the small gathering to enterprising shots around the park.

Chanderpaul was particularly brutal square of the wicket on the leg side and brought up his 50 off 42 balls. He was dismissed for a well-made 64 five balls later when he tried to hoist spinner Gary Kidd over the boundary, but only succeeded in finding Mooney at long off.

By then he had struck eight fours and two sixes in a partnership worth 72 for the second wicket.

Hinds continued to be aggressive with an exhibition of powerful straight hitting before his stumps were disturbed by medium-pacer Alex Cusack with the score at 138 for three. He had struck 45, with three fours and two sixes from 29 deliveries.

A flurry of wickets then followed as Narsingh Deonarine, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Denesh Ramdin were all caught going for the big hit with overs running out.

Meanwhile, captain Darren Sammy was run out when he failed in his attempt to steal a bye.

In the end, West Indies managed to reach 171 for seven, despite Cusack’s exemplary figures of three wickets for 19 runs off three overs.

In Ireland’s chase, openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling provided a rollicking start against fit-again pacer Jerome Taylor and spinner Sulieman Benn.

The stand came to a premature end, however, when Sammy brought on seamer Lionel Baker, who had Porterfield caught by wicketkeeper Ramdin off his first ball of the match.

Stirling and Niall O’Brien then took the score from 38 for one to 77 before the former chanced Chanderpaul’s arm from short fine leg and came out on the losing end, run-out for a quickfire 33 off 19 balls.

Despite losing new man Cusack cheaply, the left-handed O’Brien continued from where Stirling had left off with innovative shots against both pace and spin to keep Irish hopes alive.

When Benn had O’Brien caught at midwicket by Sarwan in the 18 th over, that hope faded and panic set into the Irish camp. He hit 62 off 44 balls, inclusive of six fours and two sixes.

Needing over 20 runs to win with 12 balls remaining, Mooney backed away and was bowled by Taylor to effectively end the contest.

Benn put the decisive nail in the Irish coffin in the final over when he dismissed both Gary Wilson and Nigel Jones in consecutive deliveries to give himself a chance to get a rare T20 hat-trick.

It was not to be, however, as the spinner’s delivery to Andre Botha was a leg-side wide and Ireland were left short on 153 for seven.

Benn was named man of the match for his three wickets for 32 runs off four overs, while fellow spinner Nikita Miller (one for 14 off four) and Taylor (one for 30 off four) also performed creditably.

The teams will play in the final match of the Festival today as they continue to prepare for the T20 World Cup to be held in the Caribbean later this month.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES

A Fletcher c Mooney b Connell 12

S Chanderpaul c Mooney b Kidd 64

W Hinds b Cusack 45

R Sarwan c wkp Wilson b K O’Brien 16

N Deonarine c Stirling b Cusack 1

*D Sammy run out 11

+D Ramdin c K O’Brien b Cusack 1

J Taylor not out 10

N Miller not out 0

Extras (lb3, w7, nb1) 11

TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 171

Did not bat: S Benn, L Baker

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-111, 3-138, 4-140, 5-143, 6-149, 7-164

Bowling: K O’Brien 4-0-36-1, Connell 3-0-20-1, Cusack 3-0-19-3, Botha 4-0-39-0, Stirling 4-0-28-0, Kidd 2-0-26-1

IRELAND

*W Porterfield c wkp Ramdin b Baker 17

P Stirling run out 33

N O’Brien c Sarwan b Benn 62

A Cusack c and b Miller 15

K O’Brien not out 9

J Mooney b Taylor 4

+G Wilson st Ramdin b Benn 2

N Jones b Benn 0

A Botha not out 4

Extras (b1, lb2, w4) 7

TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 153

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-77, 3-123, 4-137, 5-143, 6-148, 7-148

Bowling: Taylor 4-0-30-1; Benn 4-0-33-3; Baker 1-0-14-1; Sammy 4-0-37-0; Deonarine 3-0-22-0; Miller 4-0-14-1

Result: West Indies won by 18 runs

Toss: Ireland

Umpires: P Gustard, V Johnson