CAMPBELL, HOPE SMASH WORLD RECORD, AS WI CRUSH IRELAND

DUBLIN, Ireland – John Campbell and Shai Hope covered themselves in fame, when they shared 365 and shattered the World record for the biggest opening stand in the history of One-day Internationals to set the foundation for a 196-run victory for West Indies over Ireland in the Tri-Nation Series today.

See the highest partnerships in ODIs below!

Left-hander Campbell, playing only his sixth ODI, smashed his maiden List “A” hundred of 179 to earn the Player-of-the-Match award.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Hope, on the occasion of his 50th ODI, supported with his fifth career hundred of 170.

Their remarkable partnership paved the way for a WINDIES total of 381 for three, after the visitors were sent in to bat on a turgid Clontarf pitch in the first match of the tournament which also features Bangladesh.

Off-spinner Ashley Nurse snapped up 4-51 from 7.4 overs, and key fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach followed up with destructive spells, as the hosts failed to use the full allocation of 50 overs and crashed to 185 all out in 34.5 overs in a chastening defeat, as the Caribbean side nailed their first dress rehearsal for next month’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales.

Campbell and Hope set a slew of new marks with their opening stand, as they easily surpassed the previous best opening stand in ODIs of 304 set by the Pakistan pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman against Zimbabwe last July in Bulawayo.

They came within seven runs of the highest stand in the 4,128-match history of men’s ODIs for any wicket – a record set by another West Indies pair, Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, against Zimbabwe at the previous World Cup four years ago in Canberra, Australia.

They came within 17 balls of becoming the first opening pair to bat through an entire first innings of an ODI – both falling in the 48th over – but became the first opening pair ever to score 150 apiece in an ODI innings.

Hope, whose innings lasted 152 balls, was the first to reach his landmark with an imperious straight drive off his 112th delivery from Tim Murtagh in the 35th over, and Campbell, whose knock occupied 137 balls, followed suit in the next over, when he drove left-arm spinner George Dockrell to long for a single off his 99th delivery, as they became the first West Indies opening pair to score hundreds in the same innings.

Cautious through the initial stages, gathering just 37 from the first Power Play, Campbell and Hope gradually increased the tempo before unleashing a merciless assault on the Irish attack to gather just over 100 from the last 50 balls of their stand.

Campbell was caught at mid-off, top-edging Barry McCarthy, and Hope fell three deliveries later, when he was caught at deep square-leg, as the home team held the Men-in-Maroon to just 16 in the last three overs and the WINDIES fell just eight short of their highest ever ODI total.

The match was practically over as a genuine contest, once Roach and Gabriel ripped out Ireland’s top order, leaving the hosts 20 for three in the first five overs of the chase.

To add injury to insult, Gabriel pinned Andrew Balbirnie with a blow to head, forcing the batsman to leave the field with Ireland 63 for three in the 13th over and enter the concussion protocol.

West Indies met defiance from Kevin O’Brien, whose 68 from 77 balls, was the top score for the Irish and Gary Wilson with 30 in a stand of 58 before Nurse sliced through the lower half of the batting to hasten the race to victory.

The WINDIES face Bangladesh on Tuesday at the same venue in the second match of the tournament.

Source: CWI Media