Ireland out to cause upset

Ireland make their World Cup debut on Thursday when they take on Zimbabwe and with their opponents having completely fallen apart in recent years, the possibility of an upset looms large.

Since the last World Cup, Zimbabwe cricket has been in freefall, largely because of political problems, and they arrive at the competition woefully short of world-class performers.

Despite this, they stand as 1/2 favourites while Ireland could be worth a punt at a tempting 13/8.

Even the most ardent fan of international cricket would do well to name any of the Zimbabwe squad and their recent record is so bad that Ireland will be gunning for them in the opening match.

Vusi Sabanda and Chamu Chibhabha are joint favourites to be Zimbabwe's top runscorer at 4/1, but bet365 appear to be as clueless as everyone else as they have eight batsmen all 9/1 or better.

Eoin Morgan is the 7/2 favourite to top Ireland's scoring, while Jeremy Bray and William Porterfield are next at 9/2.

This one is probably best watched, to give you more of an idea about the two sides, but if you have to have a bet, then the 13/8 on Ireland is undoubtedly the value, not least because they can boast wins over Scotland and Bermuda in their short one-day international history.