ICC CWC LIVE: India vs Ireland

It may be a potential mismatch on paper but the Indians would do well to not underestimate the Irish who are riding on a wave of confidence after a spirited win over England.

If the match against Bangladesh was a wake-up call for the Indian bowlers, the England game completely exposed the chinks in the armor. The wicket was obviously loaded in favor of the batsmen, but the lack of intensity remained a matter of concern.

The focus at the net-session on Saturday morning was completely on bowling and fielding under the hawk-eyes of coach Gary Kirsten. It was a welcome relief to see Ashish Nehra bowl with a good rhythm and at a lively pace.

However, there has been no major concern in the batting department. With 2 scores well over 300, the batsmen have little to worry about, except for perhaps complacency. The Indians are expected to make no major changes to their team composition.

The Irish on the other hand have given the game a completely different outlook. Their performance against England on Wednesday even forced the ICC to defer their decision on the format of the 2015 World Cup, which goes to show the kind of respect they have earned.

The batting at the top has looked brittle. Although Ed Joyce looked solid in his brief stay, he is yet to stamp his authority over proceedings. Skipper William Porterfield has also failed to ignite the spark and would look to iron out a few of his technical flaws.

But, the O'Brien brothers, who are currently at the forefront of the Irish cricket history will have the weight of expectation on their shoulders. John Mooney and Alex Cusack who proved to be handy with the bat against England would also bolster the batting.

The bowling however has lacked the variation, with only George Dockrell earning the respect of the opposition so far. It has been unidimensional, and would be a matter of concern for the team management. Given the Indian batting line-up, the onus is on the bowlers to delivery.

Expect a full house and an intriguing atmosphere once again at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Every nerve would be jangling in the Irish camp as it would be the first time they would be playing in front of 40,000 people who would be against them. Perhaps a "nothing to lose and everything to gain approach" may help the Ireland side to give a bit of a panic to the home crowd.

India vs Ireland in ODIs/World Cup
ODIs

India had defeated Ireland by 9 wickets at Belfast on June 23,2007 - the only game played by the two countries in ODIs.

Overall World Cup record

India have won 33 and lost 25 out of 60 played - winning % 56.77 (NR 1 Tied 1)

Ireland have won 3 and lost seven out of eleven played (Tied 1) - winning % 31.81.

In 2011 - ODIs

India have won 3 and lost 3 out of seven played - winning % 50.00 (NR 1).

Ireland have won 1 and lost 1 out of two played - winning % 50.00 (NR 1).

Approaching milestones

- Sachin Tendulkar (1944) needs 56 runs to become the first batsman to complete 2000 runs in the world cup.

- In case of a hundred, Sachin would become the first batsman to post four world cup hundreds in India. At present, both Mark Waugh and Tendulkar share the record with three centuries at the world cup in India.

- In case of an Indian win, it will be their 50th under Gary Kirsten.

- Harbhajan Singh (248) needs two wickets to complete his 250 wickets in ODIs.

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."

Ind vs Ire: Indians on guard against tricky Ireland

Title contenders India will have to be on their guard against giant-killers Ireland, on a high after shocking England, when the two sides face off in an interesting group B match of the cricket World Cup on Sunday.

The match has grown in profile and has gained proportion after Ireland sprang the tournament's biggest surprise by shocking their more fancied neighbours and three-time Cup finalists England.

Going by pedigree, however, there is definitely no comparison between the two teams and, irrespective of all the hype over Ireland's stunning win that left Andrew Strauss and his men and India with bowling concerns, the hosts will start the match as firm favourites.

Until Wednesday, the day the Irish made the world sit up and take notice of their cricketing credentials, none would have given the upcoming match any importance except for the fact that India is involved.

The Indian team management, though, has been forced to think and pay attention to the associate nation following its improbable victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, also the venue for Sunday's match.

The focus is also on the wicket, which produced 300-plus totals in all the matches it has hosted so far in the quadrennial extravaganza.

That England tied the match against India last Sunday chasing an imposing target just a few days before Kevin O'Brien's stunning innings lifted Ireland to a historic win chasing almost 330 runs, are indications enough that the strip is full of runs.

The word is that Sunday's match will be played on the surface which hosted India's warm-up game against Australia and the England game. But whether it is played on the centre strip, which hosted India's game, or the one that O'Brien made his own, is not, by any means, expected to change the tide in bowlers' favour.

Over the last fortnight, massive totals, huge sixes and countless boundaries have been the norm at this venue, and things are expected to remain the same.

Both the pitches look like feather-beds, though sources within the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) indicated that there might be some turn on offer on Sunday.

It was learnt that fearing a backlash, curator Narayan Raju consistently rolled and watered down the track to nullify the turn that had the Australians in a tizzy during their warm-up game against the hosts.

With the pitch again expected to favour the batsmen, India could go in with the XI that played against England. The good news from the hosts' camp is that Ashish Nehra has attained match fitness but the Delhi pacer is not expected to be picked unless, of course, the team management decides to field three seamers.

Bowling has been India's biggest worry in the tournament. The 2-2 attack has so far proved to be a failure and is not the way forward. That brings into equation the fifth bowler's slot and the team management is now weighing the options, which it doesn't have in abundance.

There have been calls from certain quarters to field five bowlers while some suggested that the quota of 10 overs be shared by Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh.

With Piyush Chawla going for plenty, Ravichandran Ashwin's chances have brightened. The fact that Ireland have a few left-handers in their ranks strengthens his case, and if picked, the Tamil Nadu bowler's off-spin could trouble the visiting team's batsmen.

With the Irish not the best players of spin, three spinners on a turner would be the ideal scenario for India, but the batsmen-friendly track has already ruled that out.

As far as Ireland are concerned, the question is will they be able to repeat what they did to England. They are not low on self belief and Wednesday's win has given them plenty of confidence.

The Irish now believe that they are here to not just complete the numbers, but to compete on an even keel. O' Brien's innings has completely changed the complexion of the match.

"The attitude is to win and we will go with that attitude against India too," said all-rounder John Mooney.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.

Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce.

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

Match starts: 1430hrs (IST).

World Cup Match Preview: India vs Ireland

Group B just got a whole lot tougher to compete in. Teams which had put Ireland down as a push-over have another think coming, and when India takes them on in Bengaluru on Sunday, they will have to bring close to their best. While David had defeated Goliath with a modest slingshot, England were felled on Wednesday courtesy the brute force of Kevin O’Brien’s sledgehammer and John Mooney’s all-round sagacity. Ireland have been placed on an unprecedented high, appearing to have set foot on the first rung of a far-reaching ladder. While MS Dhoni is not one to take off-field controversy (he was admonished by ICC official Dave Richardson for critiquing the UDRS) into games, he has issues of mediocre bowling and fielding to resolve. Whatever recuperative plans he may have set for the Ireland fixture will have called for drastic revision after what Ireland showed against England.
Bengaluru citizens will be kicking themselves for not having inundated the Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday, when the cricketing history books recorded a special entry: “England’s score of 327 chased down by minnow Ireland; Kevin O’Brien scores fastest World-Cup century, in 50 balls.” Even as the IPL will start to cast a line for this Freddie Flintoff-ish all-rounder, there were crucial contributions, from John Mooney (with both bat and ball) and Alex Cusack towards the end, which should not be completely eclipsed by O’Brien’s splendour.



If the Chinnaswamy ground were to be asked, given stats from this tournament so far, whom it would favour in this match, it would teeter towards Ireland; Ireland, with their defeat of a rising England, who had equalized with India, can be crowned as a force to reckon with and, perhaps, even fear. If this were a single-venue tri-series, Ireland would be topping the table right now!
India:
India has the one of the toughest top-fours anyone could wish for. Their torso too, in Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, is quite capable of the big blows. But there is a niggling doubt regarding their ability to stretch a good start into the indomitable score. When, after his 47^th century, Sachin Tendulkar came away in the 39^th over, the middle and lower orders folded in trying to keep the ante going. While India do have the players to take the game away with priceless hitting, their fluency has tended to be somewhat undermined by what looks to be pressure to do justice to the strong platform. Pathan hits the most smoothly when all his runs are to accrue only to himself, and not to pay off the debt of the legacy left by the top four. It is probably India’s curse that their top four is so good, in a morbid sense.
For all their touting as favourites, India will be shuddering to think of how to deal with a breakaway O’Brien and Co., should there be a repeat. They have already shown themselves vulnerable to pitched attack, even 338 not tall enough a target for the bowlers to defend against England. Apart from Zaheer Khan’s specialized savvy, the bowling has been flaw-ridden. Piyush Chawla may have been the played last game for the threat he would have posed to certain English batsmen. However, he was not nearly as effective as expected bowling under the dewy floodlights. With India likely to stick with spin strength, Ravichandran Ashwin might be a better foil for Harbhajan Singh; with his mystery keeping batsmen on their toes, Harbhajan can slip in more wicket-taking deliveries himself. Ashwin will also be harder for the likes of O’Brien to sweep as he bowls a direly straight line.
India have been cursed to be uneasy no matter what total they notch up, given that their fielding and bowling is not beyond reproach and that the Irish amassed 227 runs in the last 154 balls of their innings. They will need to hold all their catches and intercept every run if they do not want to leave it to chance against the freaky Irish. While it is a long shot to say that India’s 300-plus total will be susceptible to being overhauled a second time in a row – by Ireland – they were exposed in the last match, and will court danger against better teams in the latter stages of the tourney.
Ireland:

The Irish batting against the English bowling was remarkable for its stoicism. When Captain and crucial batsman William Porterfield dragged his stumps down the very first ball of the mammoth chase, the Irish had all the reason to feel like this was not to be their day. And but for the other batters having held the fort up with reasonable scores of their own, O’Brien may not have had the fervour and hope to go for it full pelt. There was smart role-play, after Alex Cusack sacrificed his wicket after a valuable 47, when John Mooney turned aggressor to keep O’Brien safe, getting the timely boundary to stay afloat.
Ireland have shown some good death bowling. Against Bangladesh, they gave away a miserly 38 runs in the last ten overs, and on Wednesday, it was 33 runs in the last five. Mooney jarred the English at the death, picking up 4 players who were either set or capable of dangerous hitting. In George Dockrell, Ireland have an accurate, indefatigable left-armer who can bowl at the death too. His true test will come if he is handed the ball with a Pathan or Yuvraj on strike.