Ireland won permanent one-day international status last night after beating Bangladesh by 74 runs at Kensington Oval, Barbados. Victory over a second Test opponent - having beaten Pakistan in the group stage to qualify for the Super Eights - added a new chapter to their World Cup story.
Two wins over major teams qualifies associate countries for full limited-overs status so Ireland, who eyed this match as their big chance to avoid the second-round wooden spoon, have become the 12th name on an International Cricket Council ranking list which includes the 10 Test-playing nations and Kenya.
The size of their achievement was put into perspective by the fact Bangladesh ousted India from the competition, thrashed South Africa last weekend and made England sweat on a four-wicket win here on Wednesday.
Success was founded on Gloucestershire hopeful William Porterfield's industrious 85 and clean late hitting from Kevin O'Brien (48) and Trent Johnston (30).
Porterfield, who heads to Bristol for a trial with the English county after this tournament, dominated an opening stand of 92 with Jeremy Bray and set the platform for a late assault which propelled Ireland to 243 for seven.
Ireland captain Johnston's decision to take on the new ball in early morning conditions rather than have to force the pace against Bangladesh's trio of spinners in a run chase paid off, as early consolidation preceded 98 runs from the final dozen overs.
Their usual enthusiastic fielding, paired with regular wickets, meant it was comfortably enough for further Caribbean celebration.
Fittingly it began when Johnston bowled opposite number Habibul Bashar to spark jubilation in front of one of the biggest crowds of the tournament.
When the schedule was planned out today's contest was supposed to be between India and Pakistan, so with thousands of tickets bought on-line in the sub-continent but not taken up, organisers allowed free entry to bolster the 500-strong Blarney Army.
Man of the match William Porterfield claimed he and opening partner Jeremy Bray had believed they could post a competitive total.
The pair put on 92 for the first wicket to give the Irish a strong foundation.
Porterfield said: "We knew there was going to be a bit of pace and bounce but we managed to get past that and set a good total. "We got stuck in, it wasn't easy at first but we got through it."
The 22-year-old was hopeful the team's success would galvanise the game in Ireland, saying:
"I think it has gone a bit crazy back home but it's all good and hopefully cricket can kick on." IRELAND
W Porterfield c Rafique b Mashraf 85
J Bray run out 31
E G Morgan run out 5
N O'Brien c Iqbal b Hasan 10
K O'Brien run out 48
D Johnston c Nafees b Mashrafe30
A White run out 4
D Langford-Smith not out 6
A Botha not out 1
Extras (b1, lb11, w6, nb5) 23
... ---
Total 7 wkts (50 overs) 243
Fall of wickets: 1-92, 2-101, 3-128, 4-176, 5-215, 6-233, 7-237.
Did not bat: W McCallan, W Rankin.
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-1-38-2; Shahadat Hossain 9-1-51-0; Abdur Razzak 9-0-48-0; Mohammad Rafique 10-0-42-0; Saqibul Hasan 10-0-44-1; Aftab Ahmed 2-0-8-0.
BANGLADESH
T Iqbal b Johnston 29
S Nafees c N J O'Brien b Rankin 7
A Ahmed c N J O'Brien b A C Botha 12
S Hasan run out 3
M Ashraful c Langford-Smith b Rankin 35
H Bashar b Johnston 32
M Rahim b McCallan 16
M Mortaza c & b Langford-Smith 0
M Rafique c Johnston b Langford-Smith 2
A Razzak b McCallan 11
S Hossain not out 0
Extras (lb4, w18) 22
... ---
Total (41.2 overs) ... 169
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-45, 3-48, 4-93, 5-102, 6-131, 7-134, 8-138, 9-169
Bowling: Rankin 8-0-42-2; Langford-Smith 10-1-27-2; A C Botha 8-0-31-1; Johnston 7.2-0-40-2; McCallan 8-1-25-2.
Ireland won by 74 runs
Super Eights:
How they stand
P W L T P Australia (1) 5 5 0 0 10 New Zealand (3) 6 5 1 0 10 Sri Lanka (2) 5 4 1 0 8 South Africa (5) 6 3 3 0 6
England (7) 5 2 3 0 4 West Indies (6) 5 1 4 0 2 Bangladesh (11) 6 1 5 0 2 Ireland (13) 6 1 4 0 2
Top four qualify for the semi-finals
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