Brooks, Pollard star as West Indies defeat Ireland in 1st ODI

Kingston [Jamaica], January 9 (ANI): Shamarh Brooks and Kieron Pollard starred with the bat as West Indies defeated Ireland by 24 runs in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Sabina Park on Sunday.
With this win, the hosts have gained a 1-0 lead with the second ODI set to be played on Tuesday.
Chasing 270, Ireland batters were not able to support skipper Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector and only these two batters managed to stay at the crease for a long haul. Balbirnie played a knock of 71 while Tector scored 53.
Andy McBrine and George Dockrell also scored 34 and 30 respectively but this did not prove as Ireland fell 24 runs short of the target. For West Indies, Alzarri Joseph and Romario Shephard returned with three wickets each.
Earlier, Brooks played a 93-run knock to guide West Indies to over the 265-run mark.
West Indies was struggling at 62/4 but it was then that Pollard and Brooks came together to stitch a partnership of 155 runs to take Windies to a position of safety.
Pollard also contributed with a 69-run knock of just 66 balls with the help of 4 fours and 4 sixes. For Ireland, Craig Young and Mark Adair returned with three wickets each.
Brief Scores: West Indies 269 all out (Shamarh Brooks 93, Kieron Pollard 69; Mark Adair 3-38); Ireland 245 all out (Andrew Balbirnie 71, Harry Tector 53; Romario Shepherd 3-50). (ANI)