Ireland need to come up with their best against the Windies on Saturday if they still want to stand a chance of reaching the Tri-Series final. They suffered a crushing 196-run defeat at the hands of the Windies in the series opener and their next match against Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
So, Ireland would need to win both of their remaining matches, and that too by big margins, on order to qualify for the final. The Windies on the other hand have shown an indifferent form so far. The first match against Ireland saw their batsmen John Campbell and Shai Hope creating a World record stand of 365 runs. However, they looked like no match for Bangladesh in the second match as they lost it by 8 wickets. So, there is still room for improvement both teams.
Ireland would want contributions from their top order batsmen in Paul Stirling and William Potterfield. Their seamers need to be more disciplined too. Being the hosts, Ireland should be able to use home conditions better. The Windies on the other hand would be hopeful of a better performance from their middle-order consisting of the likes of Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter and Jason Holder. If both teams can check these areas of concern, we might see a close game at Dublin.
Weather and Pitch Conditions: Rain is expected to stay away on Saturday. But the cold conditions may aid the seamers more, thus making life difficult for
Ireland need to come up with their best against the Windies on Saturday if they still want to stand a chance of reaching the Tri-Series final. They suffered a crushing 196-run defeat at the hands of the Windies in the series opener and their next match against Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
So, Ireland would need to win both of their remaining matches, and that too by big margins, on order to qualify for the final. The Windies on the other hand have shown an indifferent form so far. The first match against Ireland saw their batsmen John Campbell and Shai Hope creating a World record stand of 365 runs. However, they looked like no match for Bangladesh in the second match as they lost it by 8 wickets. So, there is still room for improvement both teams.
Ireland would want contributions from their top order batsmen in Paul Stirling and William Potterfield. Their seamers need to be more disciplined too. Being the hosts, Ireland should be able to use home conditions better. The Windies on the other hand would be hopeful of a better performance from their middle-order consisting of the likes of Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter and Jason Holder. If both teams can check these areas of concern, we might see a close game at Dublin.
Weather and Pitch Conditions: Rain is expected to stay away on Saturday. But the cold conditions may aid the seamers more, thus making life difficult for batsmen. The pitch will be flat though and the middle order batsmen should enjoy batting here.
Rotowire.com Predicted XI:
Wicket-Keeper: Shai Hope (10 Cr)
He is coming into this match on the back of back to back centuries. His innings of 170 in the opening game against Ireland lit up the series and then he followed it up with yet another classy knock of 109 against Bangladesh. He looks to be in superb touch and hence should continue to do well in this match as well.
Batsman: Kevin O'Brien (8.5 Cr)
He was the only Ireland batsman who showed some fight in the previous match against the same opponents. He played a fighting knock of 68 off 77 deliveries and restored some sort of respectability to Ireland's score.
All-Rounder: Jason Holder (10 Cr)
The Windies skipper is yet to fire in the series but he is too good a player to leave out. He bats in the lower middle order and will complete his quota of 10 overs as well. So, that makes him a very good fantasy asset.
Bowler: Shannon Gabriel (8.5 Cr)
He picked up a 3-wicket haul in the first game of the series and followed that with a decent bowling spell of 10-0-58-1 on a flat track against Bangladesh. The conditions in this match at Dublin are expected to aid seam bowling and Gabriel might once again prove to be lethal in these conditions.
Predicted Playing XI:
Ireland: William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker, Kevin O Brien, Gary Wilson, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Tim Murtagh, Barry McCarthy
West Indies: John Campbell, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Jonathan Carter, Sunil Ambris, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel
