COLOMBO: The West Indies qualified for the Super Eights stage of the World Twenty20 after their Group B match against Ireland was abandoned due to rain on Monday.

Ireland made 129-6 in their 19 overs before heavy rain at the Premadasa stadium prevented the West Indies from starting their innings.

Both teams received one point each, but the West Indies joined Group B winners Australia in the next round due to a superior net run-rate over the Irish.

Australia have already qualified for the next round from the group, having beaten both Ireland and the West Indies.

Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Paul Stirling, Max Sorensen, Gary Wilson

West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Asad Rauf (PAK) TV umpire: Simon Taufel (AUS) Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

DID YOU KNOW? By Shaan Agha

- Though Darren Sammy is the leading T20Is wicket taker for West Indies with 31 wickets in 30 matches, he has managed just one wicket in six matches this year.

- Ireland has been playing professional organized cricket representing their national colours since 1855. However, due to political complications, the Irish Cricket Union (ICU) could not become a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) until 1993, a year earlier than Scotland.

- Chris Gayle was the top scorer for West Indies in T20Is for 2009 and 2010. He didn't play a single match for them in 2011 due to contract issues with the board. In 2012 he has returned and again leads the scoring charts for his team.

- In a resistance movement to foreign influence in the first half of the 20th century, anyone playing sports such as cricket was banned in Ireland from playing popular Irish games such as hurling and Gaelic football.

- The documentary film “Breaking Boundaries” is the intriguing tale of part time cricketers from Ireland knocking out Pakistan at the World Cup held in West Indies.

- None of the Irish players have scored over 40 runs in any innings at the World T20 tournaments.

- Marlon Samuels did not play any cricket for West Indies in 2009 and 2010 as he served a two year ban after being found guilty of match fixing allegations.