March 15, 2007	Thursday	Safar 25, 1428

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KINGSTON, March 14: Under-strength Zimbabwe and debutants Ireland may look like a lightweight contest in a World Cup group which also includes mighty West Indies and Pakistan.

But both need a win on Thursday if they are to have any hope of progressing in the tournament.

“If we can turn up, and bring our A-game to the park, especially against Zimbabwe, we think we have a chance there to win,” said Ireland's Australian-born captain Trent Johnson ahead of the Sabina Park clash.

“We are entering this match against Zimbabwe with a lot of confidence. We know we have a very tough group, but we have our plans in place, and we are looking to execute them.”

Ireland, like Bermuda in Group B, are playing in the World Cup for the first time, and Johnson readily acknowledges that his side is the least recognised of the four in the section, but they want to make a big impact in the competition.

“West Indies are going to be difficult to beat on home soil and they have that extra bit of an incentive to do well,” he said.

“Pakistan are a world-class team with world-class performers, and Zimbabwe are capable of causing an upset, but there is no reason why we cannot cause an upset of our own.

“If a bit of luck goes our way, and we execute our plans, I believe we can make it to the next round.”

Zimbabwe's captain Prosper Utseya says it will be a little difficult planning for Ireland, since television footage and other information about them is not readily available.

“We have been seeking some information about them, but we feel no pressure because we have nothing to lose, since we just have to play to our best,” he said.

“We have been working very hard for the last two months before we came here.“We have taken some positives out of our warm-up games, so I feel we are moving in the right direction, and we just need to take that momentum into the competition.”

Utseya noted that Zimbabwe have the reputation of causing an upset or two in previous World Cups, and his side would like nothing better to do this to regain some measure of respectability.

Zimbabwe enter the World Cup in a state of crisis having been stripped of their Test status following a series of bitter wrangles inside Zimbabwe cricket which has seen the squad stripped of virtually all its senior players.

“If the other sides in the group do not take us seriously, it will be to our advantage, and we need to capitalise on it,” he said.

“We have a number of guys that have now played more than 50 ODIs in our side, and they have performed against the best, so they just need to be themselves and do well.”

The last time Zimbabwe played Ireland was in a two-match limited-overs series four years ago (not official ODIs) which was split between the two sides.

Ireland won the first match by 10 wickets in Belfast, and Zimbabwe rebounded to take honours two days later by eight wickets at Eglinton.

Teams (from):

ZIMBABWE: Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Justice Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Terry Duffin, Anthony Ireland, Friday Kasteni, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Brendon Taylor, Sean Williams.

IRELAND: Trent Johnson (captain), Andre Botha, Jeremy Bray, Kenny Carroll, Peter Gillespie, Dave Langford-Smith, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Paul Mooney, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Andrew White.

Umpires: Brian Jerling (South Africa) and Ian Gould (England).

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

Reserve umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia).

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).—AFP

Match starts at 7:30pm

Expected weather: Chance of showers. High temperatures in the upper 80s, and low temperatures in the upper 70s.

Pitch: Provided early bounce and movement to seam bowlers in the opening match between West Indies and Pakistan, but it gradually played true once the preparation moisture evaporated.