Porterfield: Non-Test playing nations have justified World Cup spot

Even if Ireland fail to make the quarter-finals of the cricket World Cup they and the other non-Test playing nations have shown enough promise to warrant inclusion in future tournaments, skipper William Porterfield said on Saturday.

The only one of the four Associates to beat a Test-playing nation at the 11th edition with wins over West Indies and Zimbabwe, Ireland can make the last eight by beating Pakistan in their Pool B finale in Adelaide on Sunday (3.30am Irish time).

Despite Afghanistan securing the only win from the other three Assocoiate teams when they beat Scotland in Pool A , Porterfield believes the ICC should revisit their decision to reduce the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales from 14 to 10 teams.

“I think all teams in the competition have shown enough to justify a change in 2019,” said Porterfield.

“Afghanistan could have gone across the line against Sri Lanka . . . which would have been great for them to get that win.

“But I don’t think it should matter. We’ve shown enough regardless come tomorrow of where we’re at and where the next qualifiers are at.”

Ireland and Afghanistan have the best shot of the four to make the 2019 World Cup after the ICC added the duo to the rankings-based qualification system along with the 10 full Test-playing nations.

Hosts England and the top seven sides as of September 2017 will qualify for the next World Cup, with another two coming from another qualifier for the bottom four and six other Associate sides.

But the chances of success for Ireland and Afghanistan will depend on the amount of fixtures they will be able to play to help their ranking.

And that is a concern for Porterfield.

“We’ve played nine against the top 10 in the last four years, and I’m sure that’s a lot more maybe by Afghanistan. UAE and Scotland wouldn’t have played that many,” he said.

“So accumulative among the four countries, we’ve probably played as many in four years as a lot of teams play in one year, if not less.

“So in terms of coming into this competition, I think the qualifiers have prepared themselves very well considering the preparation over the four years. I think to be able to do that with that little preparation is great.”

Meanwhile, the vagaries of the World Cup draw may have helped Pakistan rediscover their swagger at just the right time according to captain Misbah ul-Haq.

The 1992 champions had been woeful in their first two matches and then limped to a tense 20-run victory over Zimbabwe before they accounted for a stubborn UAE side by 129 runs.

Those two victories built their confidence to a point where they were able to beat South Africa by 29 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in a rain-effected match at Eden Park last Saturday.

“We were playing against two tougher oppositions up front just at the start of the tournament and they played better cricket than us,” Misbah said of their successive losses to India and West Indies.

“Then after that we got, you could say, weaker sides, and we just got our momentum back and got our confidence back.

“When you are against tougher sides at the start sometimes (you) lose your confidence and momentum. But as we get back into a winning situation, the confidence and momentum is back.”

The Pakistani captain felt his trio of pace bowlers, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan and Mohammad Irfan had kept his side in the tournament.

They have combined for 28 of the 38 wickets his side have taken and UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir said his team felt they were as good as South Africa's attack of Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn.

“The pacers are really bowling well,” Misbah added.

“All of them are wicket-takers, aggressive bowlers. And that’s what we need if we are not batting well.

“All the pacers are really doing their job getting wickets, putting pressure on the opposition.”

Misbah will need them to exert that pressure on Ireland to ensure they do not suffer the same fate as the side who were knocked out of the 2007 World Cup when they lost their clash in Kingston by three wickets.

“No doubt Ireland is a dangerous team (but) . . . it is 2015, so we are not looking back to that,” he said when asked of the 2007 loss.

“We are focusing on tomorrow‘s game, that’s it, and that is a must-win game for us.”