West Indies test bench strength ahead of CWC 19

Overview

Ireland v West Indies
1st ODI
Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin
Sunday, 5 May; 10:45am local time, 9:45am GMT

Only half of the 14-man West Indies squad named for the tri-series will be participating in the World Cup; the other members of the World Cup squad are playing in the Indian Premier League. Yet, the tri-series will offer them a taste of the conditions, while giving peripheral players an opportunity to showcase their talent, especially youngsters like Sunil Ambris, John Campbell, Shane Dowrich and Raymon Reifer.

West Indies did well to draw the five-match ODI series against England in March, an outcome that was not expected as the hosts were facing a strong side placed No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings. They will rely on the experience of senior batsmen like Darren Bravo and Shai Hope. Skipper Jason Holder will lead the pace attack alongside Sheldon Cottrell, Kemar Roach and Shanon Gabriel.

Ireland, meanwhile, will be ruing their defeat to England in Dublin on Friday, sliding from a position of strength. While the hosts faltered with the bat, their precise bowling had almost derailed England. They have a terrific top three in place, in William Porterfield, Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie, who gave them a good start, and they will be looking to them to put up a competitive score.

Middle-order batsman Lorcan Tucker had a milder debut in comparison to Josh Little, who was the star of the bowling line-up. However, Tucker's domestic credentials are strong enough for him to warrant another chance.

Key players

**Josh Little (Ireland):**The teenager, who made his ODI debut on Friday, impressed with a probing spell of 4/45, picking up wickets of James Vince, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan and David Willey. The left-armer mixed short balls with fuller ones deftly and troubled the more experienced England batsmen. While the young man could not finish the job for Ireland, he will be hoping for a repeat performance against the Caribbean side.

Darren Bravo (West Indies): The 30-year-old had a sub-par series against England in March this year. While he scored at an average of 44.33, he was not able to capitalise on the good starts and accumulated just 133 runs in four innings. This is a great chance for him to get some quality match practice before the marquee tournament.

Conditions

Friday's game against England was a truncated affair as rain delayed the start of proceedings. The chances of showers on Sunday are low but expect cloud cover throughout the morning. The overcast conditions might aid swing bowling and teams will be looking to field first. The last ODI here was played two years ago in May 2017, in which Bangladesh chased 270 set by New Zealand with ease.

Squads

**Ireland:**William Porterfield (c), Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson

West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Ashley Nurse, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach