KINGSTON, March 24: West Indies captain Brian Lara said he was pleased with the consistency shown by his side after they picked up their third straight win in the World Cup, an eight-wicket victory over Ireland on Friday.

Lara's side have suffered dramatic shifts in form over the past two years and were bowled out for 85 by India in a warm-up game on the eve of the tournament but they were untroubled by the Irish as they followed up their wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

“We have played solid cricket throughout the three games. We have been very consistent, we are building as we head into the big games,” he told reporters after Shivnarine Chanderpaul's unbeaten century had guided his side to a comfortable win.

The World Cup hosts face Australia in their opening Super Eights game in Antigua on Tuesday.

Despite watching his side knock off a target of 190 with the loss of just two wickets, Lara said he wanted to see more initiative from his batsmen in the next stage.

“I am really comfortable with the guys in the field, we just need to up the ante when we have the bat in hand,” he said.

“But we are picking up the momentum and we know we are going to face a different class of opponents on Tuesday,” added Lara, who did not bat against the Irish.

“It is good for us that all of our batsmen have been able to get good hits in whereas some of the teams haven't used all their guys in their games,” he added.—Reuters