We must fly out of the blocks against Dutch – Balbirnie
IRELAND captain Andy Balbirnie insists his team must hit the ground running against the Netherlands to avoid an early exit when their T20 World Cup campaign begins on Monday.
The team received a shot in the arm yesterday with an impressive 33-run win over Bangladesh in their final warmup game. Gareth Delany, who had knee surgery earlier this year, was the outstanding performer. Delany’s unbeaten 88, which included eight sixes, laid the platform for victory as Ireland set a target of 177-3.
Ireland’s bowlers were also in fine form ahead of the World Cup opener, as Bangladesh lost three wickets inside the first three overs, including the bigname scalp of Mushfiqur Rahim, to leave them 15-3 and always chasing a lost cause.
The win means Ireland have bounced back from their 2-1 series defeat to the UAE last week with powerful outings against Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh. ‘We are trying to get slow starts out of our system,’ Balbirnie said ahead of facing the Dutch.
‘We have had a good build-up and played some good games and we are getting to where we want to be for that first game. The UAE games were all about getting time on our feet in very difficult conditions compared to what we are used to back home. It was a good result against Bangladesh so confidence is pretty high.
‘Hopefully, we will put in three really good performances next week and peak at the right time and if we do that, we can be successful but if we don’t, we will be on an early flight home,’ Balbirnie warned. Ireland need a top-two finish in the fourteam group which also includes Sri Lanka and Namibia to qualify for the final phase.
And the team’s progression to the latter stages may rest on the shoulders of opener Paul Stirling, Ireland’s leading run scorer in both white-ball formats and who recently put in a match-winning display to help Southern Brave clinch the inaugural Hundred title.
‘Paul is hugely important for us,’ Balbirnie added. ‘You just have to ask the other teams. He is no doubt the wicket they all want to get. He is just getting better and better. He is really consistent and it is such a bonus to have him at the top of the order. If he has a good week, it will go a long way to us qualifying for the next phase.’