CHANDIGARH, India (CMC):
With a week-long break between games, West Indies ensured there would be no complacency in their World Cup quest as they turned in a three-hour training session here yesterday.
The Caribbean lads focused mainly on fitness and fielding drills as they went through their paces at the Sector 16 Cricket Ground under the care of head coach Ottis Gibson.
West Indies are preparing for their next assignment against Ireland on Friday at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.
They have won two of their three games so far, crushing the Netherlands by 215 runs and hammering Bangladesh by nine wickets four days ago in their last outing. They lost their opening match to South Africa by seven wickets.
Good cricket
Pacer Kemar Roach, who has led the Windies attack admirably with 10 wickets, said they would be taking no chances against the Irish, who upset England last Wednesday to claim their only win in three matches so far.
"We will put our best foot forward when we play against Ireland later this week," the 22-year-old said.
'They are a good team and they are playing good cricket, so we are not taking things for granted and will play our best game. We are going to go out there and give our best shot."
West Indies have four points from three matches and a win over Ireland will put them firmly on course for the quarter-finals as one of the four teams progressing from Group B.Following the Ireland clash, West Indies wind down their preliminary round schedule with testing matches against England in Chennai on March 17 and pre-tournament favourites India three days later in the same city.

2. A Rainbow In The Sky ...

4. Kali Mah Pooja for Bishoo to Debut ...

to be continued .......

6. Pointer Broom with a container of pot Salt ...

With a week-long break between games, West Indies ensured there would be no complacency in their World Cup quest as they turned in a three-hour training session here Monday.
The Caribbean lads focussed mainly on fitness and fielding drills as they went through their paces at the Sector 16 Cricket Ground under the watch of head coach Ottis Gibson.
West Indies are preparing for their next assignment against Ireland on Friday (midnight tomorrow T&T time) at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.
     


     

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Windies_stay_focussed_for_Ireland-117626983.html
     

Ireland coach Phil Simmons is quietly confident about his team's chances of beating his native West Indies in Friday's crucial World Cup game.
The Irish players will be hoping that the Trinidadian's inside knowledge can help them earn the win which would hugely boost their quarter-final hopes.
"We have 12-13 professionals now, in 2007 we had three," said Simmons.
"The experience is also there because we played in 54 games in 2010. That is the big plus this time."
The 47-year-old Simmons easily qualifies as the most experienced member of the Irish squad, having had a taste of four previous World Cups - three as a player and once as an assistant to Ireland coach Adrian Birrell in 2007.
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In the World Cups: West Indies lead 1-0

No meetings in the sub-continent

 West Indies have a clean sheet against Ireland having beaten them comfortably the only time they met in World Cups (in 2007) and again in a one off ODI in 2010.

 Chris Gayle (with 119 runs this World Cup),  Darren Bravo (112 runs) and  Devon Smith (95 runs) have all looked promising in recent matches, and will need to convert their starts for West Indies (WWLLL) to really feel confident going forward in this tournament.

 Led by  Kemar Roach (10 wickets including a hat-trick and an economy rate of 3.91) and Suleiman Benn (eight wickets at economy rate of 4.06), they have two bowlers in the top 10 wicket takers this World Cup.

 For Ireland (LWLWL), their win against England, the fight they showed against  India and the relatively close match against Bangladesh, augurs well for their confidence levels against West Indies.

 Kevin O' Brien (with 159 runs so far at a strike rate of 137) has been the batsman to bring this World Cup alive and will look to go on where he left off in his last ODI against West Indies when he got 54 runs (52 balls) with a couple of sixes.

 Trent Johnston (six wickets at 4.88) leads the Irish bowling attack, with his chicken dance, as an additional bonus. Ireland will be hoping he has recovered from the injury he sustained during the match against India. With the very promising left-arm spin of George Dockrell (five wickets at economy of 4.66) and John Mooney (five wickets at economy of 5.88), the Irish have made batting difficult for India and  Bangladesh so far.

 Mohali favours teams batting first (12 wins batting first, as opposed to five chasing) and given the respective strengths of the two teams, both captains might opt to bat first and set a target for the opposition.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket

Mohali: Ireland will have many admirers in the subcontinent by the time they are through with the Cricket World Cup. Their gritty performances made them a team to watch and the West Indies will be wary of them in their Group B match here Friday.

It is a must-win match for the rapidly improving Ireland if they fancy their chances to make the quarter-finals. Known for showing little deference to their opponents' reputation, Ireland have already created a flutter with their three-wicket shocking win over England and then giving co-hosts India a fright before losing by five wickets.


West Indies, on the other hand, have roared back into the tournament, with crushing victories over the Netherlands and Bangladesh after a disastrous opening loss to South Africa. They are in third place in the group with four points.

A win for Ireland, who are fifth in the standings with two points, would put them in with a good chance of making the quarter-finals as they play the Netherlands last after their game against South Africa.

The West Indies skipper Darren Sammy said no team can afford to take Ireland lightly in the day game at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium.

"It (Ireland) is a team that is constantly improving and it shows their cricket is moving forward. We are going to go out there and stick to our strengths and apply pressure on them," Sammy said on the eve of the match after the team went through the paces in overcast conditions.

Both the teams have had their share of injuries and Ireland are praying for the recovery of their fast bowler Trent Johnston, who is nursing a sore knee after he tripped on his follow-through in the match against India in Bangalore Sunday. So badly is the 36-year-old wanted in the squad that the Irish are willing to play him if he is even 80 percent fit.

They also have a promising left-arm spinner in George Dockrell and a useful medium pacer in John Mooney, who made batting difficult for Bangladesh and India in their group matches.

The Ireland top order will have to fire against the unique pace-spin combination of Kemar Roach and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn. With the pitch expected to carry pace and bounce, Roach, who has a hattrick and 10 wickets under his belt, could be tricky for the greenshirts. Benn, who has picked eight wickets from three games, can be equally dangerous.

Apart from hero of their England win, Kevin O'Brien, Ireland have to sort out their opening pair. Skipper William Porterfield scored 75 against India, but Paul Stirling failed to open his account.

Ed Joyce, who has scored a mere 52 runs in his three games, is also due for a big innings. The form of Niall O'Brien against India augurs well for the team. The Irish are one of the better fielding sides in the competition and that should be a big plus for them.

"The West Indies have variation in their bowling. They have a strong batting line-up. We have our strengths, too, like bowling," Porterfield said.


For the West Indies, Chris Gayle's return to batting form is a good sign for the team, which also has proven batsmen in Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan apart from talented youngster Darren Bravo and big-hitting Kieren Pollard.

The two sides met once in the 2007 World Cup where the West Indies got the better of them at the Super Eight stage.

Today the 17th March is St.Patricks day :

Thank goodness we NOT playing them ...

A win will take us through to the quarter finals....


It's our 1st day match as well....so match time is 12:00am EDT

: West Indies captain  Darren Sammy said on Thursday the dramatic Dhaka stoning of their team bus, and the bitter war of words which followed, has strengthened the squad's World Cup bonds.

Ireland will not know what hit them , they never faced anyone like roach

 
hope he don't turn out to be a cockroach tonite.