Ireland can hold heads high despite five-wicket defeat

IRELAND HEAD north to the cooler climes of Chandigarh today with the warm praise of the cricketing world continuing to follow…

IRELAND HEAD north to the cooler climes of Chandigarh today with the warm praise of the cricketing world continuing to follow them despite their five-wicket loss to tournament favourites India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here last night.

A dreadful start after being put into bat on a steaming hot day in Bangalore saw them lose two wickets in the first three overs before a 113-run stand between skipper William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien settled things down.

Two crucial turning points came with O’Brien’s run out on 48 and Porterfield’s departure on 75, when he looked well set to go on and become the third Irishman to score a World Cup century and second in this tournament after Kevin O’Brien’s record knock against England last Wednesday night at the same ground.

With Yuvraj Singh claiming his first five-wicket haul in an ODI, Ireland were bowled out for 207, a good 60 runs shy of a decent target.

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Trent Johnston took two early wickets before having to leave the field injured and 18-year-old left-arm spinner George Dockrell bagged the prize duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Indian skipper MS Dhoni. But Yuvraj returned to do some damage with the bat, getting India home with four overs to spare thanks to an unbeaten 50.

Porterfield was delighted with his side’s ability to fight back from some tough situations in the game and make India work for the victory that puts them top of Group B ahead of England, who stunned South Africa in a low-scoring game in Chennai earlier in the day.

“There were a lot of key moments during that game where it would have been easy to sit back and go ‘oh we’re playing India and we’re on the back foot’, said the Warwickshire player. “But we fought back from nine for two and lost three quick wickets through the middle and we fought back again.

“We came out after half-time and fought right from the start and put a bit of pressure on India. The way we fielded and bowled right throughout, it’s great credit to the lads and yeah I’m proud of the team,” he added.

Porterfield reserved special praise for Dockrell, who bowled beautifully for his two wickets, conceding 50 runs in his 10 overs, with 16 runs coming off his last four deliveries after Yusuf Pathan decided to open his shoulders.

“He just thrives on it, he is pretty calm and composed and has a good head on his shoulders,” said Porterfield. “As long as he keeps learning and has that drive then he has great potential to go a very long way.”

Porterfield reported that a scan on Johnston’s right knee showed no fracture or ligament damage, but that he was in a brace as a a precaution. “We have to see how he fares after the next couple of days. We travel to Mohali tomorrow and see how he fares, we don’t play until the 11th (Friday) so hopefully he’ll be fit to go by then,” said Porterfield.

Ireland take on the West Indies next up, knowing that they require two more victories from their last three Group B games to have a chance of making the quarter-finals. They then go on to face South Africa and The Netherlands at Eden Gardens in Calcutta in their final group games.

Man of the match Yuvraj believes regardless of how Ireland finish up this tournament, that they deserve to be playing more and more top-level international cricket.

“Definitely, the last World Cup they beat Pakistan and this one they chase 327 against England. They have been doing really outstanding, their fielding today was outstanding. They can put big teams under pressure and they should definitely be playing lots of international cricket.”

Next up . . . .

Ireland’s remaining Group B games

(all times Irish)

Friday, March 11th

v West Indies, Mohali, Chandigarh (day), 4am – live on Sky Sports 1 from 3.45am (on red button from 8.30am).

Tuesday, March 15th

v South Africa, Calcutta (day/night), 9am – live on Sky Sports 1 from 8.30am.

Friday, March 18th

v Netherlands, Calcutta (day), 4am – live on Sky Sports 1 from 3.45am.