Evin Lewis turned back the clock with a blistering 91 off 44 balls to lead the West Indies to a resounding 62-run win over Ireland in the third and final T20 International at Bready Cricket Club on Saturday, clinching the three-match series 1-0 after the first two games were abandoned due to rain.
Batting first after Ireland elected to field, the West Indies piled up a mammoth 256 for five — their highest T20I total against Ireland — with Lewis at the heart of the carnage. The left-handed opener smashed seven fours and eight sixes, racing to a half-century in just 23 balls before narrowly missing out on a hundred.
He shared a punishing 122-run opening stand in 63 balls with captain Shai Hope, who contributed a fluent 51 from 27 deliveries, striking four fours and four sixes. The pair took the attack to the Irish bowlers, bringing up the century stand inside nine overs.
Hope was the first to fall, caught off Barry McCarthy in the 11th over. Lewis followed two overs later, skying a catch to Stirling off left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys, who was the pick of the Irish bowlers with two wickets for just 16 runs in his four overs.
Rovman Powell (2) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) fell in quick succession, but Keacy Carty kept the momentum going with an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls, which included four fours and four sixes. He combined with Jason Holder (18) for a 39-run stand and closed the innings with Romario Shepherd, who blasted 19 not out from six balls, including three sixes, to take West Indies to an imposing total.
Ireland’s bowlers were put to the sword, with Liam McCarthy conceding eighty-one runs in his four overs — one of the most expensive spells in T20I history.
Set a daunting 257 for victory, Ireland’s chase began with promise but quickly fell apart. Captain Paul Stirling struck a couple of boundaries before falling for 13 in the second over, caught by Powell off Holder.
Ross Adair and Harry Tector launched a counterattack, adding a 101-run stand in 54 balls that briefly threatened to make a game of it. Tector smashed four fours and two sixes in his 38 off 25 balls, while Adair top-scored with 48 from 36, hitting three fours and four sixes.
But the stand was broken when Roston Chase trapped Tector lbw in the 11th over, sparking a collapse. Lorcan Tucker (one) fell soon after, caught off Akeal Hosein, who also removed George Dockrell (15) and Ross Adair to finish with 3-27.
Holder returned to dismiss Tim Tector (seven) and Barry McCarthy, while Shepherd accounted for the latter with a sharp catch by Lewis. Ireland never recovered, despite a late flurry from Mark Adair, who struck thirty-one off fourteen balls, including four sixes, and Liam McCarthy, who ended unbeaten on sixteen.
West Indies rotated their bowlers effectively, with Hosein, Holder (2-49), Shepherd (1-23), and Chase (1-16) all among the wickets. Ireland closed on 194 for seven — a spirited total, but well short of the target.
