*Official* Match 15 - England v Ireland

[James]

England v Ireland
Wed Mar 2
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
09:00 GMT | 14:30 local | 20:00 EST | 19:30 CST | 17:00 WST

England Squad

Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy, Chris Tremlett

Ireland Squad

William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wicketkeeper), Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wicketkeeper)

 

[Maximus0723]

I would go with the same side as last time.

 

[Howe_zat]

Anderson has lost it at the death too many times for comfort. He needs to take a game out, spend some hefty time in the nets and get his rhythm right. Broad will be back so that's a straight swap.

Elsewhere, I'd consider bringing back Bopara but it'd be pretty unfair to drop Yardy after he bowled with a lot of nous against India. So I'd stick with the rest of the side.

There's an argument to play Wright or Tredwell for rotation purposes, but seeing as I'd rather cut off a finger than have either play in a knockout I wouldn't bother.

Ireland aren't likely to change much but could perhaps do with dropping White, who looked rather out of his depth against Bangladesh. Alex Cusack may be the man to come in.

Ireland's strength so far has been their middle-overs bowling with Dockrell and Botha bowling very well. The opening pair of Rankin's pace and Johnston's accuracy are certainly worth respecting too. It's the strongest attack of any minnow side by some distance. If Ireland win the toss and bat first on a flat deck, England may not have a third hefty run chase in a row in them.

Nonetheless, if England bat with half the purpose they did against India, they should get this fairly comfortably. But Ireland have a chance.

 

[GIMH]

Should be a total walkover. We're gonna win the World Cup.

 

[four_or_six]

I can't think whether we should swap Broad in for Anderson or Shazhad. At the moment I'm leaning on playing Shazhad, but his dodgy fielding worried me. I wonder how he'll bowl under real pressure.

 

[Himannv]

I can't think whether we should swap Broad in for Anderson or Shazhad. At the moment I'm leaning on playing Shazhad, but his dodgy fielding worried me. I wonder how he'll bowl under real pressure.

Cant justify playing Anderson at the moment I reckon. Big fan of his but he obviously needs a bit of time away from games right now. Bowling beamers and all sorts of rubbish at the moment.

 

[four_or_six]

Cant justify playing Anderson at the moment I reckon. Big fan of his but he obviously needs a bit of time away from games right now. Bowling beamers and all sorts of rubbish at the moment.

Yeah, I kind-of agree. The thing is, is it best to try to get him back into form against Ireland? Or let Shazhad get some confidence up against them?

 

[Teja.]

Quite enjoying Anderson getting destroyed tbh. Would be devo if he doesn't play.

 

[Dhoni_fan]

England need to be careful here not to get too caught up in the moment after the India match, Rnakin was very expensive against Ireland but up front he could be a handful Joyce will be hungry, England to win but Ireland will run them close, lets not forget I know it was T20 but Ireland would most likely have beaten and knocked England out of the world T20 had it not rained when were cruising to a win and will be hungry for revenge!

 

[GIMH]

Nah they weren't cruising to a win, that's revisionist

 

[Blaze 18]

How have Ireland got more votes than England ?

 

[Howe_zat]

How have Ireland got more votes than England ?

Thanks to a mixture of not taking the poll seriously and/or making it look like you knew what you were talking about if there's an upset.

See: Sri Lanka v Kenya poll, which was at one stage 4-0 to Kenya.

 

[NasserFan207]

Should be the inverse of our last match, our batting will do much better but I expect most of our bowlers to get tonked.

 

[Dhoni_fan]

Nah they weren't cruising to a win, that's revisionist

Yes they were, the bowled England out for 110 ffs! and were 20-1 in no time at all! Collingwood admitted but for rain England would probably have gone out ro Ireland that day!

 

[Howe_zat]

Nah they weren't cruising to a win, that's revisionist

Yes they were, the bowled England out for 110 ffs! and were 20-1 in no time at all! Collingwood admitted but for rain England would probably have gone out ro Ireland that day!

England were 120/8 after their 20 overs, not 110 all out. It was also a very slow scoring pitch, and Ireland reached 14-1 in the fourth over, so hardly "no time at all".

Scorecard

Ireland had a decent chance, certainly, but "cruising to a win" is a massive overstatement.

 

[Himannv]

Yeah, I kind-of agree. The thing is, is it best to try to get him back into form against Ireland? Or let Shazhad get some confidence up against them?

Perhaps they have to decide between whom to back for the rest of the World Cup. Anderson or Shazhad. Somehow considering the type of bowling conditions on offer, I reckon Shazhad might be a better bet.

 

[IrishOpener]

England were 120/8 after their 20 overs, not 110 all out. It was also a very slow scoring pitch, and Ireland reached 14-1 in the fourth over, so hardly "no time at all".

Scorecard

Ireland had a decent chance, certainly, but "cruising to a win" is a massive overstatement.

Well 3.3 overs , still I think we would have got the runs that match had the rain not interfered but we will never know, people will expect England to win but if they don't turn up or if they give Ireland a chance, I expect us to take it...

 

[Blaze 18]

Thanks to a mixture of not taking the poll seriously and/or making it look like you knew what you were talking about if there's an upset.

See: Sri Lanka v Kenya poll, which was at one stage 4-0 to Kenya.

I just saw the Sri Lanka vs Kenya poll.

 

[Howe_zat]

Cricinfo's preview pointed out the surprising number of names left from the last world cup match these sides played.

Bell, KP, Colly, Bopara, Anderson, Porterfield, both O'Briens, White, Johnston, Botha and Rankin.

More entertainingly, Morgan was playing for Ireland and Joyce was playing for England.

 

[Himannv]

More entertainingly, Morgan was playing for Ireland and Joyce was playing for England.

Ironic how that turned out