Ireland captain William Porterfield reckons his team has had enough time to savor its surprising opening win over the West Indies at the World Cup. Now it's time to get on with business.
The Irish had a four-wicket win over the two-time World Cup winners in Nelson, New Zealand, chasing down the target of 305 with four overs to spare nine days ago. So they've had plenty of time to prepare for Wednesday's match against the UAE, one of the three other so-called Associate teams at the tournament.
“The lads are raring to go,” said Porterfield, who is determined to continue Ireland's 13-game unbeaten streak against the UAE. “It's obviously a decent record, but it doesn't account for anything. It's anyone's game. But, if we go in there and play the kind of cricket we want to play ... the result can go from there.”
The UAE had to wait until Thursday to get started, its first game at the World Cup since 1996 ending in a four-wicket loss to Zimbabwe. UAE team, comprising part-timers, scored 285-7 in an encouraging batting display.
Khurram Khan expected the Ireland batsmen to try to get on top of the game, but the UAE had plans to combat that.