The 2007 World Cup is often remembered for Australia's triumph in a final that concluded in near-darkness at Bridgetown and the ghastly speculations around Bob Woolmer's death. Lost in the fine-print was Ireland's ‘shock-factor', as the team defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh and was also involved in a tie with Zimbabwe.
In the current edition, however, Ireland blew a chance to extend its dominance over Bangladesh and suffered a 27-run defeat at Dhaka. The squad, eager to shed its minnows tag, will now step into a venue that is still nursing a hangover following Sunday's tie between India and England.
Time to move on
The Group B match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday pits two neighbours keen to get on with the game.
England has to shed its memory of chasing and drawing level at 338 with India and Ireland needs to get past its stumble at Dhaka.
The batting collapse against Bangladesh has increased the pressure on the Irish top-order of skipper William Porterfield, Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce, while seamer Andre Botha, left-arm spinner George Dockrell and the rest have to find ways to counter a strong England batting line-up.
Cautionary note
Though a tussle between teams at either end of the spectrum — established England and emerging Ireland — hints at a lopsided contest, Ian Bell struck a cautionary note when he said: “We have to play well. It's not a game where we can just turn up.”
The England batsman's grudging respect stems from the knowledge of having contested with a slew of Irish players on the county circuit. England comes into the contest after two games that forced its batsmen to dig deep.
The Netherlands scare was overcome at Nagpur and India's mammoth score here was equalled.
Captain Andrew Strauss played a central role in both matches with scores of 88 and 158. His more celebrated opening-partner, Kevin Pietersen, played a bit-part, while stringing partnerships of 105 and 68 but he needs to fire at a ground that stirs up his memories of playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Jonathan Trott and Bell have had their success but the over-reliance on Strauss continues.
The bowling, like for many teams in sub-continental conditions, remains a worry despite Tim Bresnan's five-wicket haul against India.
Spearhead James Anderson suffered the horrors with figures of none for 72 and one for 91 and he was also unlucky as Virender Sehwag's snicks just teased the fielders on Sunday.
Broad is back
Stuart Broad, who missed the game against India, trained with the squad on Tuesday, while Graeme Swann may well forget the extra turn that Piyush Chawla (four for 31) derived in the warm-up game against Australia.
Chawla's exploits proved to be a red-herring and both England and Ireland will do well to notice that the pitch being prepared for Wednesday's game was the one on which Australia failed to gain even a single wicket against a dominant South Africa in a warm-up game.
However, the hint of grass offers promise to the seamers and England might well fancy its chances.
The teams (from) :
England : Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright and Michael Yardy.
Ireland : William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White and Ed Joyce.
Umpires : Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar.
Third umpire : Marais Erasmus.
Match referee : Roshan Mahanama.
Play starts at 2.30 p.m.
