Confident NZ take on ambitious Ireland

You can't be too harsh on a side where most of the players don't play at a level higher than Irish club cricket, but for Trent Johnston, the Australian-born captain, making up the numbers is certainly not good enough. "It would be great if we can find the kind of performance we put in against Pakistan," he said on the eve of the match against New Zealand. "We have sort of disappointed since then."

Since the St Patrick's Day defeat of Pakistan, Ireland have never quite scaled the heights, going down meekly to West Indies before England and South Africa ground out fairly comfortable victories. Realistically, the aim was always not to finish bottom of the Super Eights, but after Bangladesh's shock victory over South Africa on Saturday, even that possibility is looking remote.

Bangladesh constructed their innings superbly, and then choked South Africa with spin on a slow pitch, and Johnston admitted that the performance had been a real eye-opener. "We watched the match and Bangladesh performed fantastically well," he said. "Their three spinners are crucial to their plans and set up the win. It's probably one area [playing spin] that we need to work hard on in the middle overs."

Ireland's preparations for the game have been affected by a hamstring injury to Andrè Botha, though Kevin O'Brien is certain to return after missing the South Africa match. New Zealand too have selection woes, with Michael Mason and Ross Taylor missing out, but the return of Mark Gillespie should maintain the strength of a bowling attack that has been tremendous so far in the competition.

Consistency, both on the field and in team selection, is paramount as far as Stephen Fleming is concerned. Wins in the four remaining Super-Eights matches will give Fleming 100 victories as one-day captain, and he reckoned that the side he currently led was more accomplished than its predecessors.

"I have been involved in World Cups where we chopped and changed a little bit too much," he said. "If you have 12 guys are in form and doing well, then keep them. This is a very skilled side, and I don't think we have trained in other Cups better than this.

"We've come here with a fair of idea of what's needed, we're very confident and playing well but we're also realistic as to how well we need to play. The hardest part of the job and the toughest week is coming up, with Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia."

Fleming first captained New Zealand 10 years ago in a six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, and though his win-loss record is an unimpressive 96-103, most regard him as one on the game's most astute leaders. Certainly, few can boast of 11 one-day wins against Australia.

The challenge on Monday though is against a team that they know very little of, aside from video footage. Having thrashed West Indies and hammered Bangladesh, John Bracewell, New Zealand's coach, insists that there won't be any danger of complacency.

"We take Ireland as serious as any team we have been playing," he said, no doubt aware that a low-intensity approach cost South Africa dearly against Bangladesh. "We have had people watching their games, we have videos, and respect is a very key component of how we're going in this tournament. We must respect the opposition and conditions."

In Shane Bond, New Zealand have the tournament's outstanding fast bowler, and unlike South Africa, they won't pay the price for not playing a spinner. Daniel Vettori is about as good as they get, but Johnston still isn't too pessimistic ahead of another game that most expect Ireland to lose.

"It [the Bangladesh win] has given us probably some motivation to compete with these bigger teams," he said. "We would like to finish seventh rather than eighth but for that we have to work hard."

Hard work and motivation alone won't be enough though, not against a team that's unbeaten in eight matches and looking the most likely to halt the awesome Australian juggernaut.