Ireland's middle-order woes surfaced again as they lost to hosts West Indies by six wickets in Antigua.

The brittleness of the Irish batting has been a feature of the ODI games with only skipper Stephen Doheny and Murray Commins producing innings of note among the top six.

In 12 innings, numbers 3 to 6 scored just 68 runs at 5.66 highlighting where the main problem lay.

Doheny top-scored with 64, adding 63 for the third wicket with Morgan Topping (20), but from 98 for 2, they spluttered to 117 for 7.

Tom Mayes cleared the ropes twice in a cameo of 27, adding vital late runs with Fionn Hand (17), but a final total of 175 looked under-par.

The Irish attack battled manfully with two wickets for Matthew Humphreys, plus one apiece for Scott Macbeth and Liam McCarthy leaving their opponents in some difficulty at 64 for 4.

However, the hosts dug in playing no-risk cricket and the Irish attack quickly ran out of ideas on a docile track in hot conditions.

Skipper Nyeem Young and Matthew Nandu both hit unbeaten fifties in an unbroken stand of 113 to seal the six wicket win with plenty to spare.

The sides focus now switches to red-ball cricket with the first of the two four-day clashes getting underway on Saturday.