West Indies vs Ireland Highlights, U19 World Cup 2026

Are Ireland playing for the rain? Because even without the pond, they are starting to swim. Reuben Wilson walks in next, at number 8, replacing Robert O’Brien.

Gone? Robert O’Brien has been caught, but has McKenzie overstepped? Just behind the line!

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, OUT! CAUGHT! Second wicket in as many overs for McKenzie as he gets his fourth! Harakiri from Ireland now. Both set batters have been dismissed. Tossed up, a bit wider outside off, sensing O'Brin's charge, the batter reaches out to go over the top but miscues this high in the air. It goes only as far as mid off where Jonathan Van Lange takes yet another catch. The batter is made to wait as the umpires want to check for the overstepping. The replay shows that McKenzie is close to the line but has something behind it. The ball is legal and O'Brien has continue his march back. He departs for 26 (50) and from 136/4, Ireland Under-19 are now 143/6! Equation - 84 runs, 93 balls.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Full and around middle, Robert O’Brien pushes it back to the bowler.

Micah McKenzie to Olly Riley, Full and outside off, Olly Riley pushes this through mid off for a single.

Vitel Lawes to Robert O’Brien, A touch short, punched away for a couple.

Vitel Lawes to Olly Riley, Outside off, pushed away for a single.

Vitel Lawes to Olly Riley, Landed outside off, dabbed past the keeper through short third for a couple.

Vitel Lawes to Robert O’Brien, A touch short, down the leg side, O'Brien nudges it towards short fine leg for a single.

Vitel Lawes to Robert O’Brien, On middle and off, defended back to the bowler.

Vitel Lawes to Robert O’Brien, Full and straight, Robert O’Brien defends.

Vitel Lawes returns. 6-0-25-1 so far.

Micah McKenzie to Olly Riley, Full and around middle, Riley flicks it towards square leg.

Micah McKenzie to Olly Riley, Around off, watchfully defended.

The normal match equation reads 91 runs, 104 balls. But because half the side is back in the dressing room, those 91 runs needed seem like a mountain. Olly Riley walks in next, at number 7, replacing Marko Bates.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, OUT! CAUGHT! Bates has blinked and West Indies have their fifth. How crucial could this be? Just before this ball, the DLS par score read 132. Now, in the span of a ball, it has rocketed to 145! Tossed up, outside off, Marko Bates goes for the big hit down the ground. But he is not to the pitch of the ball. Miscues it and gets a massive top edge. Jonathan Van Lange gets across to his left from mid on and takes it calmly. Bates departs for 22 (28) and the 38-run stand has been broken. Ireland are 136/5 and need another 91 runs from 104 balls!

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, Short and outside off, Marko Bates cuts it through point where the fielder does well, sliding to his right to stop it.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Fuller, around middle, O'Brien pushes it down to long on for a single.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Short and outside off, spinning away, the googly, Robert O’Brien slaps it straight to cover.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, On middle and leg, nudged through square leg for one.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, Another ripper. Short and outside off, Robert O’Brien looks to defend but the ball keeps on rising and whizzes past his nose.

Jakeem Pollard to Marko Bates, Down the leg side, Marko looks to flick but misses. The ball goes off his pads through square leg and a leg bye is taken.

Jakeem Pollard to Marko Bates, EDGED, FOUR! A boundary after 85 balls! A brute of a delivery though. Banged in short, outside off, Marko Bates looks to defend but the ball keeps on rising. He is in no position to play that and ends up fending at it. The ball goes off the outside edge, from the sticker, but luckily for the batter, goes well above first slip and down to the deep third fence! This is also the highest score for Bates in this tournament.

Jakeem Pollard to Marko Bates, On a length, outside off, Bates feels for the angle and gets beaten.

Jakeem Pollard to Marko Bates, From around the wicket, short in length, outside off, Marko Bates goes for the pull but is cramped for room. MIscues it over mid on and gets a couple of runs. 98 more needed from 113 balls.

'Flashes of lightning,' says Ian Bishop on air. It has gotten overcast again. But that is not the problem. The lightning was somewhere in the vicinity and if it strikes again, the players will be taken off the ground for safety reasons.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Full and around off, ROB drives it back to the bowler who throws it back.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Very full, outside off, Robert leans and drives it through the covers for a couple.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Landed outside off, spinning in, O'Brien defends.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, A bit too full, around off, Marko Bates gets down and sweeps it through square leg for a run.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, On middle and leg, Robert O’Brien punches it through mid off for a single.

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Full and around off, watchfully defended.

Jakeem Pollard to Marko Bates, On a length, outside off, left alone.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, Landed down the leg side, pulled towards long leg for a single.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, MISSED RUN OUT OF MARCO BATES! Oh dear... comedy of errors. Short and wide outside off, extra bounce, Robert O’Brien leaps and plays the upper cut. He gets it to the left of deep third and takes the single. The fielder gets to the ball and Bates wants the second but O'Brien is blinded a touch, as the bowler comes in his way for a while. He takes a start though, but then pauses. Seeing that, Bates also pauses midway. Both batters are staring at each other, gone for all money. But the keeper, Jewel Andrew, in his excitement to cause the run out, collects the ball and throws it almost instantaneously at the striker's end. Misses. Had he taken a couple of seconds, might have found his target. Chaos everywhere. Eventually, the second is taken.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, A quick short ball, outside off, spits through. Robert rocks back for the pull but the ball just skids through after pitching. Cramps him for room and he gets it off the toe end to the off side.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, On a good length, around off again, coming in once more, O'Brien is watchful in defense.

Jakeem Pollard to Robert O’Brien, On a good length, around off, angling in, Robert O’Brien pushes it towards cover.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, Down the leg side, Bates nudges this through fine leg and gets things started post the rain break. Two runs taken.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, Tossed up, around off, spinning away, Marko Bates defends it to the covers.

Just like that, we are back! We have lost 25 minutes of play and hence, no overs have been lost. So the match resumes at exactly the same place where it was paused. The bigger question now is - who would have benefitted from this break?

Match recap - Let's recap the match a little bit. West Indies elected to bat first, as this is a used deck, but strangely, totally contrary to their normal batting approach, they were very defensive. They were focussing on keeping wickets in hand, with the score literally going nowhere before Jewel Andrew turned things on. He focussed on batting deep, but got out in the 33rd over, while the others around him huffed and puffed to take the score to 226. As many as 6 players apart from Andrew made scores between 11 to 28 in the top 8, but none could carry on. Crucially, the last-wicket pair added 20 runs which might prove to be decisive in the outcome. Ireland bowled with discipline, not giving anything away and apart from Adam Leckey, everyone who bowled got a wicket at least. Reuben Wilson was the pick of the bowlers, with 3/50. For the third straight game, the Windies got bowled out in their innings. In reply, the Irish started pretty positively, not playing too many flashy strokes, but not going into a shell either. They focussed on getting partnerships, and were 82/1 at one stage. However, the two spinners - Vitel Lawes and Micah McKenzie - just turned the tables around, picking up 3/16 in the span of 31 balls. Ireland were in big trouble at 98/4 but this 19-run stand has steadied things a little bit. Going by the actual match equation - 110 runs, 128 balls - it should not be too difficult for the Irish, if they play normal cricket. But they need the game to resume. Because if the game stops here, they will end up losing the match, owing to being behind on the DLS par score. Also, there are no floodlights at this venue, so there are high chances of overs being reduced, in case of a long delay. If this game is shortened, then Ireland would believe that their chances go higher.

Oh dear. We now see flashes of lightning across the ground. The good thing is that the rain has reduced to a drizzle and one side behind the ground is bathed in sunshine. But because of this latest development, we will have to wait for a while. Fingers crossed though, that we get a resumption soon.

1.47 PM GMT - The rain has gotten heavier and the players go off the field. It was drizzling for quite a while but the umpires were happy for the game to carry on. However, in the last couple of minutes or so, the intensity picked up, so the umpires thought it better to call for the covers. Ian Bishop on air informs that the DLS target for Ireland is 124 for the loss of 4 wickets, so if play does not resume, West Indies will win by 5 runs. However, Bishop quickly adds, in his own immicable style, 'I believe in the higher powers that the rain will stop and the game will resume.' Amen.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Micah McKenzie to Robert O’Brien, Dropped short, outside off, Robert O’Brien rocks back and punches it through point, where there is an excellent diving stop, but the single cannot be stopped. 109 runs more needed from 128 balls.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, Thrown up outside off, Marco leans and drives it through the covers for a single.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, A mild LBW appeal, but not entertained. Tossed up, around middle, Bates looked to defend but got a thick inside edge onto his pads.

Micah McKenzie to Marko Bates, Full, around off, Marko Bates defends.

Will we see a double change? Nope. McKenzie continues.