Ireland will look to seal their place in the Super 10s of the ICC World T20 2014 in Bangladesh when they take on Netherlands in the last match of the qualifiying round in Sylhet.
Ireland are well placed at four points and a 0.641 nett run rate, with a win against Netherlands taking them to the big pool, while a loss by a small margin would still place them above the rest to qualify. Netherlands will look to draw inspiration from Hong Kong who caused an upset defeat against Test side Bangladesh on Thursday. The Dutch were so close yet so far in the previous encounter with Zimbabwe losing the match only in the last ball. Ireland too, having won both the matches in the first round, saw a close finish against Zimbabwe, with the men in green ending up on the winning side.
Ireland's Ed Joyce, who has represented England at the World Cup before, is confident of not letting their potential spot in the next round slip away. "We have played well against the other Associate nations for a really long time now," Joyce said. "We are aware that the teams around us are improving all the time.
"We have played a lot of close games against teams like UAE and Afghanistan and Scotland in the last few years. We have come out on top most of the times, and we know we definitely can't take anyone for granted."
Joyce, awarded the man-of-the-match in their previous victory against the UAE, spoke cautiously to the media fully aware of the position they are in. He said his team weren't overwhelmed by the big crowds or the probability of facing bigger teams - at least not as yet.
"We've obviously got the Netherlands coming up, we have to win that first," Joyce said. "Then I think we will go to Chittagong. We will look at that in a few days after we get past the Netherlands. It was always our plan coming into the World Cup to get into that second stage and pit our wits against the big boys and hopefully we can get to do that when we get there."
George Dockrell's spin and a glimpse of Kevin O'Brien's shot making might take the Irish to the Super 10s in style. The Dutch, on the other hand, hope their reliable man Tom Cooper will stand up for them once again.
Where to Watch Live:
World T20 2014: Ireland vs Netherlands Live TV and Streaming Information (Match starts 3.30 pm local time, 3 pm IST, 9.30 am GMT, 5.30 am ET)
Country | TV Broadcaster |
India | Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1 |
US and Latin America | ESPN |
Canada | Sportsnet |
UK and Ireland | Sky Sports |
Middle East and North Africa | OSN Sport Cricket |
Australia | Fox Sports |
Sub Saharan Africa & South Africa | SuperSport |
New Zealand | Sky Sport |
Europe | EuroSport |
Pakistan | PTV and Ten Sports |
Sri Lanka | CSN |
Bangladesh | Bangladesh TV, Maasranga TV and Gazi TV |
Country | Online links |
India | HERE |
US | HERE |
UK | HERE |
Middle East | HERE |
Canada | HERE or HERE |
Australia | HERE |
South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa | HERE |
Latin America | HERE |
New Zealand | HERE |
Europe | HERE |
Pakistan | HERE or HERE |
Sri Lanka | HERE |