Cricket World Cup: West Indies v Ireland at Mohali

Ireland and the West Indies will go head to head in what is an important game for both the sides, at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Friday, March 10. > The West Indies will still have to play England and India after this game and would want to win this game to ensure that there would be no added pressure before those games. Ireland, are in fifth spot and a win here could brighten their chances of going through to the next round. They still have two games to play after this one, a tough one against South Africa and an easier one against the Netherlands.>

Ireland have been impressive in this tournament. Instead of ruing a missed chance to beat Bangladesh, they came strongly in the next two games, beating England and then losing a close one against India. They lost their way in the middle of the innings against India and would not want to repeat that again in this game. The O’Brien brothers have been brilliant in all the games so far and are the key players in this game.

The West Indies bowling has been brilliant in the last two games, albeit against the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Kemar Roach and Sulieman Benn have forged a fantastic partnership with the new ball and was fantastically complemented by Darren Sammy in the game against Bangladesh.

However, the downside is that the other bowlers have not been tested enough and if Ireland do bat all their overs, this could be a problem for the West Indies.

Ireland, too have bowling worries. George Dockerell has been their best bowler so far but they lack a genuine spinner to relieve the pressure on him. But the track at Mohali will be hard and will assist the medium pacers.

This will be a close game but if the West Indian batsmen, especially Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, get going, then it will be hard for the Irish to play catch up.