Cricket World Cup: Ireland and West Indies lock horns on Monday in Nelson
Wednesday 18 February 2015 11:56, UK
The 2015 Cricket World Cup is very much up and running and Monday’s sole match is an intriguing Pool B encounter between the West Indies and Ireland.
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The Irish have landed upset wins at the last two World Cups and will be looking for another at Saxton Oval in Nelson, New Zealand, in a match which gets underway at 22.00 on Sunday night in the UK.
Ireland have a settled team led by opener William Porterfield and featuring other familiar names in the form of batsmen Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, the O’Brien brothers Niall and Kevin, and spinner George Dockrell.
Bowler Max Sorensen only came into the squad when Tim Murtagh was injured but has done well in the warm-up matches and is set to start, while Craig Young and Alex Cusack will contest the final spot in the side.
West Indies have to decide whether they should play spinner Sulieman Benn or include an extra batsman and rely on Marlon Samuels for spin.
Ireland defeated Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup and famously upset England in 2011 when Kevin O’Brien made a brilliant century.
And Porterfield says he does not think it should be considered a major upset if his side overcome the West Indies on Monday.
"Yeah, I don't think it'll be a surprise,” said Porterfield.
“I think we're preparing for every game and going out there to win that game, and I don't think it'll be a surprise to anyone if we can go out there and win games.
"I think we've played enough cricket now, and there's not many teams that won't know much about the 15 lads that are in our squad.”
The West Indies have been in poor form of late, losing 4-1 in South Africa and getting thrashed by England in a pre-tournament warm-up game before a narrow win over Scotland.
And the decision to leave all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard out of the World Cup squad caused huge controversy.
But recently-appointed skipper Jason Holder said: “Everything is done and dusted in my opinion.
"We have moved on from it. It's beyond our control so we'll just put it behind us and we're ready to go.
"The guys have been very energetic. They've put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes.
“Obviously we didn't get the results we wanted previously but you take whatever you can from it and just move on positively.
“We are starting a new campaign and it's important we put our minds on it and play good cricket."
Regarding the Ireland team, he added: “We had a series against them and it was pretty good for us.
“We've seen a few of the players over the years and they are not to be underestimated but we are very confident.”
Watch Ireland take on the West Indies live on Sky Sports World Cup - coverage starts at 10pm on Sunday.
