West Indies vs Ireland : Calypso test for plucky Ireland

The minnows were never here to win the World Cup — their sole aim being to cause a few upsets — and Ireland have already flummoxed England with a record run-chase in Bangalore last week. But the Irish are now up against the West Indies, who have overcome an embarrassing loss to South Africa in their opening match to demolish the Netherlands and Bangladesh in the following games.

Ireland have already proven that they are easily the best associate team in the competition and another good performance against the West Indies here at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Friday will only add to their growing stature. The task, however, will not be easy for Ireland, with the Caribbean combo of Kemar Roach and Sulieman Benn in devastating form with the ball.

The West Indies have four points from three games, equal with South Africa, but are trailing behind India (7) and England (5) after four games each. Ireland have two points from three outings.

Paceman Roach has been a revelation and is fourth on the list of leading wicket-takers in the tournament with 10 scalps, while aggressive left-arm spinner Benn has not gone unnoticed, opening the bowling with Roach.

Together they have shared 18 wickets and captain Darren Sammy may decide to open with them again. But an early morning start might just lure him into letting his pacers have a crack at the Irish batsmen.

Ireland, on the other hand, have surged to 10th spot in the ICC ODI rankings ahead of Zimbabwe on the basis of their famous win over England, and the catalyst has been collective performances from their players.

Kevin O’Brien became the talk of the town with his blazing century against the Englishmen but there are other stars in the team as well whose presence cannot be discounted. Skipper William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien are just two of those proven performers.

Ed Joyce too would be itching to have a big knock under his belt in the Irish colours after moving back from England. A knee injury to Trent Johnston, who is now the 12th best ODI bowler in the ICC list, remains the biggest worry for Ireland but he is such an integral part of the team that even if he is 60- 80 per cent fit, the team management will go ahead and play him.

Off- spinner Paul Stirling has been very economical while George Dockrell will be propped up after he took the wicket of his idol Sachin Tendulkar in the match against India. On the other hand, the West Indies have the blend in batting that ranges from power hitters like Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard to veterans Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Besides, Darren Bravo has brought back the flamboyance of Brian Lara into the lineup.

The pitch at the PCA Stadium is expected to be another bed of roses for the batsmen — just as it was in the last game here when South Africa amassed 351 runs against the Netherlands — though the Dutch were later shot out for a paltry 120.

A defeat here will virtually put Ireland out of the reckoning for a quarter- final berth, but they still insist they see themselves in the last- eight stage of the tournament.