Ireland suffered a crushing 114-run defeat to Guyana in their opening game of the Nagico Super50 competition in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Friday night.
West Indian internationals Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan both played standout innings as Guyana made 301 for three, with Kevin O’Brien, at seventh change, taking the three wickets to fall at Queen’s Park Oval.
Chanderpaul made 79 off 113 balls and shared in a 129-run opening stand with Trevon Griffith (62) before adding 31with Sarwan. The little left-hander's departure saw Guyana up the pace considerable and they put on 141 in the final 12 overs as Ireland's rusty bowling attack were punished with 73 runs coming off the last five overs. Sarwan was the chief destroyer, finishing unbeaten on 89 from 62 balls after hitting 10 fours and four sixes.
O’Brien finished with figures of three for 56, while the only other bowler to escape the onslaught was Donemana off-spinner Andrew McBrine on his one-day debut for Ireland. Bowling around the wicket the 20-year-old conceded just 34 runs from his 10 overs with just a single boundary four coming off his spell.
Missing regular opening batsman Paul Stirling due to a hamstring injury, Ireland moved Niall O'Brien up the order but after hitting the third ball to the boundary he was trapped leg-before two balls later by Paul Wintz.
Skipper William Porterfield was also adjudged lbw, falling to Ronsford Beaton for a duck in the second over, with Wintz then taking the wickets of Gary Wilson and Alex Cusack to leave Ireland in dire straits at 27 for four.
Kevin O'Brien played his normal game in attacking the Guyana bowlers and along with Andrew Poynter steadied the ship somewhat with a 59-run stand. It was ended when West Indian leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo snared O'Brien leg-before as he attempted a sweep after making 39 from 35 balls, but Poynter showed why he earned a recall to senior squad by pushing on to make a half-century on his first appearance since August 2012.
The Clontarf batsman was unfortunate to depart after making 54 when Max Sorensen sent him back as he attempted a quick single, with Sorensen going on to make 29 before being last man out as Ireland were bowled out for 187.
Next up for Ireland is a clash against the Windward Islands side at the same venue on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ireland now know the complete line-up of their Pool B fixtures at next year’s World Cup after Scotland beat the United Arab Emirates in the qualifier final in New Zealand on Saturday.
Scotland will go into Pool A with co-hosts Australia and New Zealand and also face England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and fellow associate Afghanistan.
The UAE will join Ireland, India, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe in Pool B, with the game against Ireland taking place at The Gabba in Brisbane on February 25th.
NAGICO SUPER50(at Queen's Park Oval): Guyana 301-3 (50 ovs) (R Sarwan 89no, S Chanderpaul 79 , T Griffith 62, C Barnwell 31; K O'Brien 3-56), Ireland187 (38.3 ovs) (A Poynter 54, K O'Brien 39, M Sorensen 29; P Wintz 3-30, N Deonarine 2-6, R Beaton 2-41). Guyana won by 141 runs.
