Tuesday is going to be a sellout crowd at Hamilton with 14,000 fans expected to turn out to watch our game against India. We’re in for a battle and were expecting a noisy atmosphere.
– Twitter reacts to England’s shock CWC exit at hands of Bangladesh
– VIDEO: India’s Mohit Sharma speaks ahead of Ireland CWC encounter
– #360debate: Can Pakistan repeat 1992 World Cup win?
India are the form team and the current World Cup holders. For us, it’s just a case of going out and enjoying it. There’s no pressure on us as we know we only have to win one of the next two games to seal a quarter-final place. It will be strange because generally we have more support than the opposition, but on this occasion we will be outnumbered with the large Indian support. We’re just going out to showcase our skills to the opposition and the world, and hopefully it’ll be another high-scoring game. The wickets are good and the soft ground at Hamilton is perfect for batting.
Hobart treated to some wonderful batting by @edjoyce24 @balbo90 @BrendanTaylor86 and Sean Williams and a masterful spell from Alex cusack
— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) March 7, 2015
Our victory against Zimbabwe was closer than we would have liked. It was a game that ebbed and flowed: we had it won, then they got back into it and we struggled. It was a great advertisement for the sport and we gave the World Cup and the supporters another fantastic viewership. The important thing was coming out on top and our batting was pivotal to the win. It was also the first time my fiancée Bex has seen us win and she really enjoyed the occasion.
Since the game, everything’s been hectic. We flew out early Sunday morning, embarking on a 15-hour trip north from Hobart to Hamilton. It’s been hard to look around the town with such little free time. The highlight of the last few days was receiving a Maori welcome; it was fantastic to get the official reception and learn about the local culture.
What a welcome to Hamilton for the Boys in Green! http://t.co/zHYuLh3mLb @TourismIreland #BackingGreen pic.twitter.com/ribRMCaAJD
— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) March 9, 2015
I had a good catch up with Ravi Ashwin and Suresh Raini at the hotel on Monday morning. The lobby was mobbed with thousands of Indian supporters trying to catch a glimpse of their stars. Ravi and the lads are high in confidence and they’ve performed very well in the group stages so far. There’s no guarantee India will win every game though and they’re preparing for our match as if they were playing against Australia or New Zealand. It’s great to pitch yourself against top teams and see how things go on the day.
The Indians are a balanced team. They have good quick bowlers in Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav, and a top class spinner in Ravi Ashwin. Between MS Dhoni and Virat Kholi, they boast world class batsmen with lots of experience.
During our team meeting at the stadium, Phil Simmons just said to keep doing what we’ve been doing and continue setting up good platforms. Everyone in the top six and seven has got runs so confidence is high on the batting front. Not losing wickets early is a help so we can smash it in the last 15 overs. Phil’s just emphasising to focus on our own game and not to think too much about India. Every game we’ve played we’ve just thought about the two points and concentrated on the processes, which will be no different against India.
The bowling has been a weak point in the games to date, which is the same for a lot of the teams. The wickets are good for batting and the grounds are small – with the field restrictions it’s hard to contain teams. Bowling is something we need to work on and were trying to execute some specific plans. Our skills need to be a little better than they have been before. The games are coming thick and fast now with the group stages edging to a close.
As a top side, it’s going to take something special to beat them but we feel we have the capabilities to produce something unique. We need to play out of our skins and hopefully we can pull off another shock.
