Balbirnie dreams of getting a semi on

ANDY Balbirnie insisted there is belief Ireland can reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals despite their hopes of consolidating on their win over England being dashed by rain.

Ireland started their Super 12s campaign with a heavy defeat against Sri Lanka but rebounded by producing a major shock on Wednesday, toppling England in a dramatic rainaffected finale at the MCG.

They did not get to take to the field 48 hours later, though, as a showdown against Afghanistan at the was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain..

“It’s just part of the game,” Balbirnie said.

“You do come to Australia thinking you don’t need a hoodie or a rain jacket but it’s certainly been different since we arrived three or four weeks ago.

“It’s not a controllable so we don’t get too worked up about it.”

Ireland, the second lowest- ranked side in T20s left, now head to the warmer and sunnier climes of Brisbane to take on hosts and defending champions Australia at the Gabba on Monday.

They finish their group against New Zealand in Adelaide on Friday and likely need to beat both Trans- Tasman sides and hope for results to go in their favour for a top-two finish in their group.

Ireland have never beaten Australia or New Zealand in any format but Balbirnie pointed out that their upset five- run win under the DuckworthLewis-Stern method over England has boosted their confidence.

“We certainly believe we can,” Balbirnie said. “Our result on Wednesday backs that belief. We didn’t play our best cricket and we still managed to beat a team as good as England so that was positive.

“I wouldn’t want to be part of a group that didn’t think that (Ireland could reach the semis), that would be a bad environment to be a part of.

“The world champions in their own backward is something pretty special. They’ll be expected to beat us, no doubt.

“That’s kind of a nice way to go into the game, you can play with a bit more freedom.

“We certainly have that belief in our group that we can beat them, we know we’ll have to be very good on the day.

“I know the group are pretty excited about that challenge.”