Match Preview: Ireland vs UAE

2015 World Cup

Cricket365
March 30, 2015

Venue

The Gabba, Brisbane

Team news

Ireland and the UAE represent two sides of the Associate coin. The Irish have emerged as the best unit outside of the Test playing nations, many of their players fully professional on the English domestic circuit. The UAE are a little more problematic, having never won a World Cup match in two appearances 19 years apart, their ranks occupied by journeymen amateurs of largely subcontinental origin.

Ireland should be too strong in Brisbane, on the sort of surface neither side will have encountered much before. The bounce and pace of the Gabba makes for gripping cricket, and it will be a question of which side adapts more quickly enough to the task at hand.

Last encounter

The teams will be playing against each other for the first time in an official ODI.

World Cup meetings

As this will be the teams first ever ODI meeting, there is no World Cup history to speak about.

Key players

Batsman and captain William Porterfield. He is the only batsman in the top-order who never really made an impression against the West Indies, so he will be eager to get the side off to a good start.

For the UAE, 43 year-old allrounder Khurram Khan remains their key player, and nothing from their defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening match would've changed that. He needs to score the bulk of the runs batting at number four.

Umpires

Michael Gough and Nigel Llong, Kumar Dharmasena (Third umpire).

Weather

After the washout between Australia and Bangladesh last Saturday, It has been clear and dry in Brisbane. Expect another clear day for the match on Wednesday.

Prediction

Ireland should win the match quite comfortably, although the UAE has a tendency to fight until the end.