Ireland captain William Porterfield demanded his side be treated with respect after its four-wicket World Cup win over the West Indies on Monday, denying the result was an upset and taking aim at cricket's two-tier system.
Elated at claiming yet another scalp from among cricket's elite nations, Porterfield said he believed Ireland was good enough to be treated as equals.
"I don't see it as an upset," he said. "We prepared to come into this game to win, we're going to prepare to go into the UAE (United Arab Emirates) game to win, South Africa after that and so on."
Victory over the West Indies put Ireland in a good position to qualify for the quarterfinals from Pool B.
South Africa, India and Pakistan are the senior teams in the pool and Ireland's progress could be decided on the outcome of game against Zimbabwe.
"The term an upset, anything from minnows to associate, I don't see why a team has to be an associate or a team has to be a full member," Porterfield said.
Ireland has earned a reputation as a giantkiller at World Cups after beating England in 2011 and Pakistan four years before that, but has seldom been given opportunities to develop in between.
Since the last World Cup, Ireland has only played nine matches against full members while the West Indies has played 21 in the past year alone.
Porterfield believed his side would only get better as the tournament progressed.
"It was the intent we played with when we took the attack back to the West Indies (that was pleasing)," he said.
"They came at us pretty aggressively as well, and the way the lads came out and kept continuing the scoring was great and we knew there was more in the tank.
“It’s fantastic to win; This sets us up nicely for the next few games. Belief has been growing within the squad for a long time and we know what we are capable of. I believe Ireland can qualify for the knockout stages. We just want to keep proving ourselves to the others,” he said.
