Ireland eye West Indies scalp in the World Cup

Ireland and West Indies face-off in the World Cup

Ireland are eyeing a win over West Indies in their opening match of the World Cup. Irish Captain William Porterfield has said that it shouldn’t be a surprise if the team from Europe get one over the team from the Caribbean.

Ireland are well capable of beating higher-ranked opposition, having beaten Pakistan in 2007 and England in the 2011 World Cup.

Porterfield said, “We're preparing for every game and going out there to win that game.

“I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone if we go out there and win.”

Ireland come into this match having won their last two warm-up games over Bangladesh and Scotland, while West Indies just edged past Scotland in their final warm-up match.

The presence of former West Indies batsman Phil Simmons in the coaching role will help Ireland according to their captain.

“He's (Simmons) obviously great to have but he obviously knows quite a few of the West Indies players, as well,” Porterfield said.

“Obviously 'Sim' will just add that better and extra touch whenever it comes down to that and the finer details.”

The West Indies face a few problems at the World Cup after Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were left out of the squad for their alleged involvement in the team’s pullout of the India tour in October last year.

Captain Jason Holder, however, insisted that the mood in the camp is positive and that his team is raring to get their World Cup campaign started.

He said, “It's beyond our control so we just put it behind us and we're ready to go.

“They (the seniors) are energetic, they've put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Obviously we didn't get the results we wanted (in warm-up games) but we're upbeat to go.”

West Indies and Ireland play in Match No. 5 of the 2015 ICC World Cup in a Group B clash on 16th February from 3.30 am IST.