West Indies whipped Ireland by five wickets in first ODI of the three-match series at Kensington Oval, on Tuesday (January 7).
Chasing Ireland’s modest total of 180, the Windies ended on 184 for five in 33.2 overs, with opener Evin Lewis one short of his third ODI century on 99 not out off 99 balls.
The Trinidadian left-hander struck 13 fours and two sixes in his knock but needing to hit a six to get his century with the scores level, Lewis lofted the Irish fast bowler Barry McCarthy over extra cover only to drop to his knees as the ball landed agonizingly a few inches inside the boundary.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
It has ended up being slightly harder work than it might have been, but that is a thumping win for West Indies. Well played Evin Lewis. Top innings.
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) January 7, 2020
Evin Lewis is the 3rd West Indian and 9th batsman overall to be stuck at 99* in a run-chase in ODIs.
The last batsman was his teammate Jason Holder against PNG in 2018. #WIvIRE
— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/AvinashJr2/status/1214692092863275009
https://twitter.com/joelmpm/status/1214693227133059073
Evin Lewis – 99* (99). A flawless one day innings from Lewis.
Lewis scored heavily off the seam bowlers, scoring 56 from 48 deliveries of seam. He pounced on anything short and scored at a strike rate of 180.00 against any ball pitching shorter than 8m #WIvIRE pic.twitter.com/3TlIas2yUo
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) January 7, 2020
Proud of Evin Lewis such a remarkable player #WIvIRE @windiescricket continue representing us (West Indies and Trinidad 🇹🇹 )well Boss 👏🏽
— ॐStacey Lalchanॐ (@staceylalchan2) January 7, 2020
99* to Evin Lewis 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Well done WI! Great way to start off the series pic.twitter.com/CbSjz9hGTE— Butterfly. . .🦋✨ (@jay_butterflyy) January 7, 2020
Hard luck boi Evin Lewis but still a great knock !
— Jason (@JasonCK26) January 7, 2020
Unbeaten on 99 in a run chase (ODIs) :
Richie Richardson (w)
Alistair Campbell (w)
Brad Hodge (w)
Virendra Sehwag (w)
Malcolm Waller (w)
Calum MacLeod (w)
Swapnil Patil (L)
Jason Holder (w)
Evin Lewis (w)— 100मेsh (@SomeshBijarniy1) January 8, 2020