As the winning boundary from John Mooney's bat crossed the rope the camera cut to a shot of the Ireland dressing room area. Unlike the scenes of unbridled joy in Bangalore in 2011this time there were merely congratulatory smiles, pats on the pack and the occasional hug.

This was Ireland declaring to the cricketing world that it is no longer a big deal for them to beat a Full Member particularly one from the lower reaches of the top ten elite. After all only a few days earlier Bangladesh had also been dispatched, albeit in a warm up match. It is only a week ago that the hammering Ireland took from Scotland had some forum contributors and professional cricket writers speculating about that result heralding the end of the “golden era” of Irish cricket.

However the people who mattered, Phil Simmons and the players, shrugged their shoulders and insisted that preparations were on target and when the bell sounded they would be more than ready to compete. And that is exactly what they did in putting the West Indies to the sword in the idyllic setting of the Saxton Oval in Nelson.
Ireland's default mode on winning the toss is to put the opposition in to bat and by and large that has been a successful strategy. This logic confounded David Lloyd who, in his early commentary spells, was adamant that as in every other match so far you bat first, score 300+ and win. Now in fairness to him in the entire history of the World Cup a total of 300+ had only ever been successfully chased four times but he may not have realised that Ireland accounted for half of those.

He wasn't the only one surprised that you opt to bowl and then leave out the seam bowler who has been your leading wicket taker in the past six months in favour of a 21 year old off spinner who has never played an ODI against a full member. But Phil Simmons had noted that in the warm up matches Andy McBrine had only conceded 47 runs in fourteen overs and calculated that he would be a better bet on a flat wicket than an additional seamer and of course he turned out to be right.

McBrine's ten overs only cost 26 runs and the pressure he exerted led to chances been taken at the other end which was instrumental in reducing West Indies to 87 for 5. While McBrine didn't get a wicket with the ball he produced a superb piece of fielding that resulted in him running out Darren Bravo with a direct hit. Bravo must be sick of the sight of Ireland as he got a four ball duck in 2011 and didn't even face a ball here.

In my preview I had suggested that the key man in this West Indies squad was former skipper Darren Sammy and he was primarily responsible for bringing his side back into contention together with Lendl Simmons. After thirty overs a total of 250 looked beyond them but they blitzed the Ireland seamers turning potentially respectable figures in those more associated with T20 matches. 167 runs in the final 15 overs seemed to have swung the game in the West Indies favour as the death bowling again failed to measure up.

Interestingly when Lendl Simmons was interviewed between innings he felt that his side were about 30-40 runs short of par and I have no doubt that the scintillating ground fielding was a major contributor to that.

Given that in recent matches Ireland had struggled at the top of the order a solid start was essential and William Porterfield and Paul Stirling certainly delivered. Initially the skipper was the most aggressive including a vicious pull off Roach that cleared the boundary. Although he gradually lost his rhythm the slack was taken up by Stirling who was determined not to take a backward step as he drove, cut and hooked the Caribbean speedsters to distraction. Ironically it was the slow off spin from Chris Gayle that brought about Porterfield's downfall but it also meant that Ed Joyce arrived at the wicket. The normally sedate starter takes a while to play himself in before producing his languid classy strokes.

However he was in a vengeful mood as he was determined to make up for the disappointment of 2011. There is a misconception that the loss to Bangladesh cost Ireland a place in the quarter-finals in 2011. The reality is that Ireland would have lost out on run rate even had they beaten Bangladesh and it was the defeat to the West Indies that cost them qualification for the knockout stages. He was also angry about the way the ICC had yet again decided to reduce the number of teams for the 2019 World Cup and in doing so made it extraordinarily difficult for an Associate team to qualify. Such was his determination to demonstrate the idiocy of the ICC decision that he launched into as an aggressive an innings as he has ever delivered at ODI level. As well as his trademark classy drives and cuts he marched down the wicket to the fast men and smashed them back over their head.

Stirling finally fell eight short of a well- deserved century but the pace of his 106 run partnership with Joyce ensured that Ireland were always well in touch with the required run rate. Indeed the strategy of maintaining a scoring rate that never saw the required rate rise above 6.5 was the key element in the win. Unlike the West Indies who reached their total thanks to a T20 like blast over the last 20 overs, Ireland avoided the pressure of having to score at ten or more per over at the end by attacking from the outset.

The last piece in the jigsaw was Niall O'Brien who was intent on reprising his innings against Pakistan in 2007 and ended up even surpassing that epic performance. Alongside Joyce he took Ireland to within touching distance of victory as the blasted the demoralised bowling to all parts and reduced the run rate required to 3.

Although Joyce fell and there was a wobble when three further wickets went in a heap Niall ensured that all the work done would not be wasted by delivering another couple of belligerent blows and Ireland were home.

The subdued celebrations signalled that the only thing that mattered was the next match against UAE on the 25th in Brisbane. The preparation and intent for that match will be at least as equally intense as it was for this win. While there are issues to be addressed, such as the death bowling and which seamers to pick, there will be no resting on laurels as this squad intends to prove to any doubters that they deserve their place at the top table.