KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Rovman Powell warmed up for upcoming assignments against Ireland and England with a stunning half-century as Jamaica Scorpions thrashed Ireland by five wickets in a 50-over warm-up here Wednesday.
Asked to chase 235 at Sabina Park, the hosts cantered to their target in the 39th over thanks to captain Powell’s 82 off 63 balls.
Andre McCarthy punched 48 off 52 balls at number four while Brandon King chipped in with a breezy 36 from 35 deliveries and Paul Palmer, an unbeaten 33 from 40 deliveries.
Powell’s knock was all the more important after McCarthy and King fell within the space of seven deliveries to leave Scorpions stumbling on 107 for four in the 21st over.
The West Indies star belted four fours and half-dozen to destroy Ireland’s attack, putting on a swift 94 for the fifth wicket with Palmer to lay the foundation for Scorpions’ win.
Earlier, George Dockrell struck 82 from 107 balls at number seven to rescue the Ireland innings which lay in ruins at 69 for five in the 17th over after the visitors were sent in.
The 29-year-old crunched half-dozen fours and two sixes, adding 31 for the sixth wicket with Lorcan Tucker (17), 50 for the seventh wicket with Simi Singh (29) and 55 for the eighth wicket with Mark Adair (25).
Singh was enterprising, hitting a four and two sixes off 30 balls while Adair was equally positive, striking two fours and a six off 26 balls.
Dockrell eventually perished in the 48th over, ninth out as the last of medium pacer Powell’s three victims.
Fast bowler Nicholson Gordon was the leading wicket-taker, however, snatching five for 34 to shock Ireland’s top order.
In reply, Scorpions were slumping at 23 for two in the seventh over before King and McCarthy combined in an 83-run, third wicket stand to steady the innings.
King, a member of the West Indies squad to face Ireland and England, counted four fours and a six while McCarthy, who played two One-Day Internationals away to Bangladesh last year, lashed seven fours and a six.
Their dismissals left the game in the balance but Powell rescued the run chase with Palmer, who then put on a further 34 in an unbroken sixth wicket partnership with Kimani Wilson (five not out), to see Scorpions home.
Ireland takes on West Indies in the first of three ODIs starting at Sabina Park tomorrow.
