CRICKET WORLD CUP: FOR LONG stages of a beautiful early summer afternoon at the PCA Stadium yesterday Ireland dared to dream of a second World Cup victory, and one that would put them in a great position to claim a berth in the quarter-finals.

In the end, though, bitter disappointment and a 44-run defeat to West Indies was all they took away as their chances of progress in the competition were left hanging by a thread.

Chasing a target of 276, Ireland were 177 for three with Ed Joyce looking well set to claim a century in just his fourth game back in green.

The ask at that point was 99 runs from 75 balls and seven wickets remaining, with Nikita Miller having just given up 14 runs in the 37th over after Gary Wilson reversed-swept back-to-back deliveries to the boundary fence.

With the batting powerplay still to be taken, it was a strong position for Ireland, but one that would start to unravel once Joyce departed for 84 in the 38th over.

The Bray left-hander had started in glorious fashion after Paul Stirling went for five, driving Sulieman Benn for two boundaries through the covers from the first two deliveries he faced.

Although the West Indies tried to close off one of his favourite scoring shots, Joyce continued to find the gaps and would bring up his half-century off 67 balls, with six fours in total.

He had shared a 44-run stand with Niall O’Brien (25), but his stand with Wilson was worth 91 and promising much more when Joyce was bowled by Andre Russell trying to aim a shot down the leg-side.

That brought Kevin O’Brien to the wicket in a position perfectly set up for the big right-hander. Settle in, get the arms working, call the powerplay and make hay.

The script didn’t include an outstanding catch from Kieron Pollard, who had earlier bludgeoned 19 runs from five balls off O’Brien on his way to a brilliant 94 from 55 balls, an innings that helped West Indies post a healthy target following a sluggish start with the bat.

And the big all-rounder from Trinidad was to make another huge contribution when darting in from long-on to take a brilliant two-handed diving catch after O’Brien had got under a delivery from Windies skipper Darren Sammy.

The focus was now on Wilson, who had gone past 50, and looked like he fancied the hero tag on this occasion. But in Sammy’s next over the Surrey player was controversially given out leg-before by Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva despite the referral showing the ball pitched outside the line.

Wilson’s referral went back to the on-field umpire after replays and De Silva had no hesitation in upholding the call on the basis he hadn’t offered a shot. Hardly what a batsman would do on 61 and with 77 needed off 50 deliveries, with the fact that the ball went on to hit the bat only adding to Wilson’s displeasure at his dismissal.

It left Ireland on 199 for six and the tail, despite a valiant knock of 19 from George Dockrell, failed to reignite the contest as Ireland were bowled out for 231 with an over to spare.

The West Indies tail had also flagged earlier in the day, but led by a watchful first one-day hundred from opener Devon Smith and a must-watch thriller from Pollard they were able to get past 250.

Stereotyped as a Twenty20 hitter, Pollard has been given the opportunity to move up the order in the absence of Dwayne Bravo, who was injured in the Windies opening match against South Africa.

And with Chris Gayle ruled out of the game with an abdominal muscle injury, they were short of their big guns.

Time for Pollard to fire then and he did just that hitting eight fours and five sixes before finally holing out going for a sixth maximum, with Boyd Rankin steady as a rock under a steepling catch at long off from a delivery by John Mooney.

Mooney had earlier missed the stumps by a whisker with a run-out chance when Pollard was 13, while Wilson got his hand to the ball but failed to hang on when he was on 19 off Andre Botha. Two tough chances, but it made the difference in the end.

In contrast, Smith’s knock was much more circumspect but just what his side needed after Ireland, despite the absence of Trent Johnston, kept the Windies on a tight leash after winning the toss.

Wickets came in batches for Ireland with Kevin O’Brien ending an 89-run opening stand when Shivnarine Chanderpaul fell to a good catch in the covers from captain William Porterfield for 35.

Three balls later he bowled Darren Bravo for a duck on his way to claiming career-best ODI figures of four for 71.