Cricket:Ireland's World Cup campaign comes to an end when they face the Netherlands on Friday, but captain William Porterfield believes his men have demonstrated they can be big players on the world stage.
A shock win over England was the highlight of the campaign — with the victory the result of the tournament in many spectators’ eyes. Slip-ups against Bangladesh and the West Indies have hamstrung their hopes of qualifying, though, meaning the Dutch clash will be their curtain call.
“We’ve done a lot of good things in this tournament,” Porterfield said of his side’s time on the sub-continent. “The result against England stands out, but the way we bowled and fielded throughout the tournament, especially our ground fielding, has been right up there with anyone.”
Ireland were in position to win the games against Bangladesh and the Windies, but were unable to get themselves over the line. Porterfield is aware of their failings, but knows they will only iron them out through gaining big-match experience.
He added: “We got ourselves into a lot of winning positions. In the game against the West Indies we were right in the game. We should have won the game against Bangladesh in the end too. The more we play against
[big] teams, the more we are learning as a unit. We are going to take a lot out of this tournament.”
The Netherlands are the only team in Group B not to register a win, with their opening-game thriller with England the highlight of their campaign. Apart from their 292 against Andrew Strauss’ men, they have struggled to adapt to the conditions, something captain Peter Borren accepts.
He said: “It takes time to get used to spinners on such wickets. We can’t get used to it if we don’t stay long enough on it. We keep losing wickets at crucial times.”