Cricket | World Cup: After surprising opening win, Ireland back in action v UAE

William Porterfield

Ireland captain William Porterfield reckons his team has had enough time to savor its surprising opening win over the West Indies at the World Cup. Now it’s time to get on with business.
The Irish had a four-wicket win over the two-time World Cup winners in Nelson, New Zealand, chasing down the target of 305 with four overs to spare nine days ago. So they’ve had plenty of time to prepare for today’s match against the United Arab Emirates, one of the three other so-called Associate teams at the tournament.
“The lads are raring to go,” said Porterfield, who is determined to continue Ireland’s 13-game unbeaten streak against the UAE. “It’s obviously a decent record, but it doesn’t account for anything. It’s anyone’s game.
But, “If we go in there and play the kind of cricket we want to play … the result can go from there.”
The UAE had to wait until Thursday to get started, its first game at the World Cup since 1996 ending in a four-wicket loss to Zimbabwe at Nelson. The UAE team, comprising part-time players and mostly ex-pats, scored 285-7 in an encouraging batting display. There’s been much made of the International Cricket Council’s plans to cut the number of teams competing at the World Cup from 14 to 10 in 2019, mostly due to performances like Ireland’s win over the West Indies and Scotland running New Zealand close in its opening match.
Porterfield said his team had set a goal of reaching the quarterfinals, which could further complicate matters for the ICC.
“We’ve spoken openly about wanting to make the quarterfinals — at least, that’s our first goal,” Porterfield said. “We’ve come here and expecting to get through the group.
“There is a long way to go. We’ve played one game of cricket. We’ve got five to go. We can’t expect to pick up where we left off against the West Indies — I think it would be foolish to do that. So we’ve got to prepare well as we have done again, and have a look at the UAE.”
George Dockrell took 3-50 to restrict the West Indies to 304 and then Paul Stirling scored 92, Ed Joyce made 84 and Niall O’Brian hit an unbeaten 79 to lift Ireland to 307-6 and a famous victory. Ireland is unlikely to tinker much with its lineup.
UAE vice-captain, Khurram Khan, the oldest player at the tournament, said the outcome in Brisbane was crucial for both teams. The weekend match between four-time champion Australia and Bangladesh at the Gabba was abandoned due to cyclonic rain. There’s more rain on the forecast, but the UAE and Ireland are hoping there’s no repeat of the no result from Saturday.
Khan scored 45 against Zimbabwe, while Shaiman Anwar posted 67 to bolster the UAE innings. They’re looking for more from the top order on Wednesday.
Ireland will “be targeting us. We’ve played lots of games against them,” Khan said. “For us, as well, from associates, we’ve played a lot of games and we know the weaknesses as well. So I think it’s a wonderful opportunity because it’s, you know, it’s a very important game for us as well. So we’re targeting definitely this game.”
Khan expected the Ireland batsmen to try to get on top of the game, but the UAE had plans to combat that.
“I think they’re batting side, and bowling has been their weakness,” he said. “Obviously they’ll be very up as an associate, and they know they have chances because they beat West Indies — the extra pressure will be on them.” AP