West Indies vs. Ireland 1st ODI: Hosts backed to ‘start series with win’ in Barbados

Ireland begin their tour of West Indies this week, with the first of their three ODI matches taking place on Tuesday.

The two nations will then battle it out over the course of three T20 fixtures later in the month.

But up first comes that intriguing ODI encounter, where the visitors will be aiming to cause an upset.

The hosts are huge favourites to get the series off to a winning start at 1/7. It’s currently 9/2 for an away win.

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND. 06 JUNE 2019: Jason Holder of West Indies celebrates scoring a half century during the Australia against West Indies, ICC Cricket World Cup match, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England.

Despite the apparent advantage for the home side, the pair sit just two places apart in the current ODI world rankings. West Indies occupy ninth spot, with Ireland not far behind in 11th.

The hosts do, however, boast two players in their top ten respective fields. Shai Hope finds himself among the current best batsmen in the world in the format, with Jason Holder among the best all-rounders.

Hope has been given odds of 13/5 to be his side’s top run scorer on Tuesday. His team-mate Evin Lewis is currently 16/5, with Roston Chase and Sunil Ambris both 4/1 to top score for the hosts.

Also keen to impress with the bat in front of their home crowd are Shimron Hetmyer and Brandon King. They are available at 9/2 and 6/1 respectively to be the top scoring batsman for West Indies.

For the visitors, it’s Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling who will be looking to hit big numbers. The former is currently 3/1 to be Ireland’s top batsman, and 4/1 for the latter.

Also looking to impress will be Kevin O’Brien, Gareth Delany, William Porterfield and James McCollum. They are all available at 9/2 to be their nation’s top scorer with the bat.

It’s currently 13/8 for a century to be scored in the first innings match one.

With the ball, it’s Sheldon Cotterrell at 5/2 who could take the most wickets for the hosts. He’s followed by Alzarri Joseph and Hayden Walsh Jr at 7/2.

Boyd Rankin is 3/1 to be Ireland’s top wicket taker on Tuesday. Both Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy are available at 10/3.

The first and second encounters take place at Kensington Oval in Barbados. And the third and final match will be played in National Cricket Stadium in Grenada.

The busy week represents the perfect test for Ireland, who will use the series to prepare for further ODI games throughout the year. They have meetings with both Bangladesh and New Zealand planned, but the upcoming trip to West Indies will demand all of their focus for the next month.