Easy win for WI ‘A’

BELFAST – Captain Devon Smith slammed a superb century to fire West Indies “A” to an uncomplicated eight-wicket win over Ireland in the second One-Day match yesterday.The left-handed opener stroked 114 as the Caribbean side easily overhauled Ireland’s 217, finishing on 220 for two off 38.2 overs at the Civil Service Cricket Club at Stormont yesterday.André Fletcher continued his resurgence in form when he smashed a stroke-filled, unbeaten 81, and it was his entertaining stand of 130 for the second wicket that carried Windies “A” to their second successive triumph.Winning the toss and batting, Ireland got half-centuries from Andrew Poynter (64) and Andrew White (56) which hauled the score around from 29 for three in the sixth over.Medium pacer David Bernard Jr (3-24) and leg-spinner Imran Khan (3-44) captured three wickets apiece, while medium pacer Assad Fudadin claimed two for 28.Smith then dominated an opening stand of 85 with Kraigg Brathwaite whose indifferent form continued with 15 from 48 balls.As he laboured, Smith flourished with his second century on the British tour, spanking 14 fours from just 101 balls.He signalled his intentions from the outset when he hammered left-arm  fast bowler Phil Eaglestone for three boundaries in the opening over of the innings.Smith hammered three more fours in Eaglestone’s next over which cost 18 and it forced skipper Kevin O’Brien to pull him from the attack with Windies “A” cruising  at 32 without loss.With Brathwaite  struggling, Smith kept the scoreboard ticking over and he reached his half-century from just 36 balls.When Brathwaite chipped the fifth ball from off-spinner Albert van der Merwe’s fourth over back to the bowler, it paved the way for the Smith and Fletcher show.Both batsmen, who got impressive centuries against India “A” in the second four-day “Test” last week, continued where they left off in a merciless assault on the Irish bowlers.Starting slowly and then blossoming nicely, Fletcher cracked 12 fours off a mere 76 balls in a dominant innings.With victory in sight, Smith perished in the same vein he had played, top-edging a pull to mid-on off Eaglestone, a ball after pulling the hapless bowler to the mid-wicket boundary. It was left to Fletcher to formalise the result, flicking Eaglestone behind square for four to carry the Windies past their target. (CMC)