ICC 20/20 Cricket Tournament Off to a Flying Start

The 2010 ICC 20/20 Cricket Tournament bowled off this afternoon in Guyana with a tense down to the wire match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, which the Kiwis eventually won and the West Indies versus Ireland which turned out to be a more one sided match than it originally appeared.

The Irish team looked set to give the West Indies a run for their money when, Windies batting first,they restricted them to 138/9. At age 17 young George Dockrell showed what the future of Irish cricket is made of with his 4/16. Darren Sammy top scored for the Windies with 30 and it was down to the last four overs before any of the batsmen let loose with the type of batting synonymous with the West Indian team. Once again Pollard came in late down the order but on this occasion was unable to get going and quickly returned to the Pavilion. With the last man out on the last ball of the 20 overs Ireland must have felt that they had some chance of defeating the Windies.

This thought was quickly dispelled as the first wicket went tumbling before the first over was completed and the Irish wickets started to tumble. A brief break for the rain interruption did nothing to help their situation and they found themselves all out for 68 runs after 16.4 overs.

Darren Sammy was the hero of the match for the Windies. He showed his all around ability as batsman with 30 runs, bowler with figures of 3/8 and fielder with four catches.

Winides go up against the more formidable English team on Monday, when they will have their regular captain Chris Gayle back in the side. This win, under the captaincy of Dwayne Bravo, will certainly boost their confidence but there is still much for them to improve upon. They gave away 19 extras with 11 being wide balls; with another team in opposition those 19 runs could be the difference between winning and losing.

Ireland are known to be "giant killers" after their last experience in the 50 over version of the game during the 2007 World Cup. They did not win on this occasion but surely have shown the heart and determination required to take them to the top of this game.