KOLKATA: The World Cup bandwagon has moved into Kolkata, the last of its 13 venues, and it was Ireland who got the first call at the storied Eden Gardens on Sunday afternoon, 48 hours before they take on mighty South Africa.
Having made the cricket world sit up and take notice by qualifying for the second round of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Ireland kicked off their campaign in the 2011 edition with a disappointing 27-run loss to Bangladesh.
Five days later, they pulled of the biggest coup of the tournament by chasing down a World Cup-record 327 against heavyweights England. But since then the ICC's associate member nation has flattered to deceive.
With just two points in their kitty and only two matches to play, including the one against the Proteas, not even some divine intervention may help Ireland advance to the second stage this time (quarterfinals in this case, as against the Super Eights in 2007). One can imagine the Irish taming the Dutch, but do they have it in them to topple strong contenders South Africa?
"We know South Africa are one of the favourites to win this World Cup... Hopefully, they will relax a bit (on Tuesday) and give us a chance... May be they'll have a couple of hangovers (from the nail-biting last-over win against India on Saturday night)," was how 35-year-old Ireland all-rounder Andre Botha summed up their predicament before Sunday's practice session.
The Irish are coming off a 44-run defeat at the hands of the West Indies, a game in which they looked to be in business till the 37th over of their chase of 276 before completely losing the plot. "It's not just the West Indies game, we were in with a chance even against Bangladesh and India but failed to get over the line."
As Botha explained, there were no expectations from the Irish in the 2007 event as the side was made up mostly of amateur cricketers. "This time the expectations are far more, that's why it's been even more disappointing to lose those three games from good positions."
Be that as it may, the Irish players are gritting their teeth to bite hard one more time. "We know we have to win the last two games and we are not going to back out... Everyone's up for the challenge."
Brave words from one of the senior pros of the team, but whether they indeed have the class to match the Proteas is something we'll reserve our comment on for the time being.
Having made the cricket world sit up and take notice by qualifying for the second round of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Ireland kicked off their campaign in the 2011 edition with a disappointing 27-run loss to Bangladesh.
Five days later, they pulled of the biggest coup of the tournament by chasing down a World Cup-record 327 against heavyweights England. But since then the ICC's associate member nation has flattered to deceive.
With just two points in their kitty and only two matches to play, including the one against the Proteas, not even some divine intervention may help Ireland advance to the second stage this time (quarterfinals in this case, as against the Super Eights in 2007). One can imagine the Irish taming the Dutch, but do they have it in them to topple strong contenders South Africa?
"We know South Africa are one of the favourites to win this World Cup... Hopefully, they will relax a bit (on Tuesday) and give us a chance... May be they'll have a couple of hangovers (from the nail-biting last-over win against India on Saturday night)," was how 35-year-old Ireland all-rounder Andre Botha summed up their predicament before Sunday's practice session.
The Irish are coming off a 44-run defeat at the hands of the West Indies, a game in which they looked to be in business till the 37th over of their chase of 276 before completely losing the plot. "It's not just the West Indies game, we were in with a chance even against Bangladesh and India but failed to get over the line."
As Botha explained, there were no expectations from the Irish in the 2007 event as the side was made up mostly of amateur cricketers. "This time the expectations are far more, that's why it's been even more disappointing to lose those three games from good positions."
Be that as it may, the Irish players are gritting their teeth to bite hard one more time. "We know we have to win the last two games and we are not going to back out... Everyone's up for the challenge."
Brave words from one of the senior pros of the team, but whether they indeed have the class to match the Proteas is something we'll reserve our comment on for the time being.
No comments:
Post a Comment