William Porterfield said he never felt Ireland was out of the match despite losing early wickets and the pressure of a mounting run rate towards the end.
Speaking to the media after his side’s second consecutive win, Porterfield said he elected to field first because of the confidence that they can chase any target, especially on a big ground like The Gabba.
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“It’s very hard to defend coming down the back end, and if we could utilise whatever swing there was up front, it would have been ideal,” said the Ireland captain.
“We managed to get them down to 130 odd for six wickets. And then towards the end, I thought it was a big ground and was going to be very hard to defend on and we proved that in the end.
“We were four down at one stage, but the way (Gary) Wilson and Kevin (O’Brien) got that impetus back in the innings was great. From then on, obviously you were still chasing quite a few an over, but the game is always within your reach if you’ve got those wickets in hand.”
Porterfield was fulsome in his praise for the pluck shown by the UAE. “When you have a team 130 for six, it is slightly disappointing to come off the way we did, but you’ve got to give them a lot of credit the way they struck the ball and the way they played,” said Porterfield, who scored 37 in the winning cause.
“I think the UAE have been fantastic over the last 12 months. The way they’ve kicked on, how they’ve played their cricket, and they’ve been getting scores like that on a regular basis. They’ve done it against Zimbabwe, and they’ve done it against ourselves. So, I think you’ve got to give credit to the way they played.
Great scenes @ the Gabba following today’s win with the team celebrating with the #BlarneyArmy http://t.co/GUpngAN6iO pic.twitter.com/MrwMqoskCA
— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) February 25, 2015
“It was closer than we would have wanted, but if you give me two points any day of the week, we are taking them.
“A lot of people said building up to this game how comfortably we should win it or how comfortably things have happened.
“We never thought that for one minute how we have been going, and that’s great to see. Yeah, two associate nations going head to head, it’s great. We put on a good show,” he added.
Ireland next play against South Africa on March 3, in Canberra.
