Cricket World Cup: Ireland optimistic for India clash

Ireland have vowed to continue with the same aggressive approach which stunned England on Wednesday in Sunday's World Cup match against India in Bangalore.

The Irish sensationally beat England by three wickets and all-rounder John Mooney performed a heroic late innings in the win.

"Our expectations going into the India game will be the same and we will go all out," said Mooney.

"Every game we play, we play to win. The approach will be the same."

Mooney took four wickets in Wednesday's game and his 33 not out proved crucial as Ireland overhauled England's imposing 327-8.

"It didn't happen in the first outing (against Bangladesh) but we went out with the same attitude against England," added Mooney.

"We have our own expectations and we don't want to put pressure on ourselves."

Ireland, who lost a close opening match against Bangladesh, have two points from as many games and another remarkable win over India would be a major step towards reaching the quarter-finals. Kevin O'Brien's 50-ball hundred - the fastest in World Cup history - turned Wednesday's game in Ireland's favour and India's bowling struggles in their opening two matches may give the visitors belief that they can rattle the competition co-hosts.

However, O'Brien, who is being tipped as a contender for a lucrative Irish Premier League contract after the World Cup, is being careful to make respectful noises about Sunday's opposition.

"A couple of bad matches won't make them a bad bowling attack," said O'Brien, who turned 27 on Friday..

"I've seen the likes of (paceman) Zaheer Khan and (spinner) Harbhajan Singh and they're very good bowlers."

"It's going to be a difficult game on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it as it's not every day that you play in front of 50,000 screaming fans.

"If I'm playing on a flat wicket, I'd try to hit the ball if it is there to hit."

India need to back up their batting with tight bowling and fielding against Ireland, who showed the depth of their batting against England as lower-order batsmen Alex Cusack and Mooney made crucial contributions. The hosts' batting looked formidable in their two matches so far, with Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli cracking centuries against Bangladesh and Sachin Tendulkar scoring 120 against England.

But India's bowling has left a lot to be desired despite trying out different combinations as they conceded 283 runs against Bangladesh and could not defend 338 against England in the tied match.

Despite India's struggles with the ball to date in the competition, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says he is not planning to use an extra specialist bowler in Sunday's match.

"I will be inclined to play with seven batsmen because you should always back your strength, which is batting," said Dhoni.

"You should not be in a situation where you find you are 30 runs short."

Dhoni said flat batting tracks were common in India, with help for spinners only on some pitches.

"That is what you can expect tomorrow also. It is difficult to say whether it (the pitch) will turn or not.

"In the last two games we have seen high scoring games with close to 1,400 runs scored. Hopefully, we will have anotherhigh-scoring game."
 
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