New Delhi: West Indies cricket team, the only team in the tournament's history to win the coveted title twice, has been knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2022 in the group stage. On Friday, Ireland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup exit after defeating West Indies by 9 wickets. Earlier in the tournament, the Windies were defeated by Scotland. After the shock exit, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran said he was absolutely gutted, also citing the failure of his team's batters who failed to perform throughout the tournament.
Batting first, West Indies had set a target of 147 runs for Ireland, which the Irish team chased down comfortably with 9 wickets and 15 balls remaining.
"We have disappointed our fans and ourselves. It's definitely hurting. I have disappointed my guys with the way I performed," said Pooran after the match.
"It's tough, we haven't batted well in this tournament at all. On a really good batting surface, making 145, it's a really difficult task for the bowlers. It was going to be a challenge," mentioned the left-hander.
The captain congratulated the Irish team on their qualification for the Super 12 and said, "Congratulations to Ireland, they batted fantastically and bowled well today. There are a lot of positives, Jason is back to bowling well, King is batting wonderfully, and Joseph is stepping up with the ball for us. This is a learning experience for us."
West Indies Playing XI: Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy
Bench: Shamarh Brooks, Raymon Reifer, Sheldon Cottrell, Yannic Cariah
Ireland Playing XI: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little
Bench: Stephen Doheny, Conor Olphert, Graham Hume, Fionn Hand