Irish set sights on Canada success

Ireland have come heartbreakingly close to beating tournament favourites, Kenya and Scotland, in the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 in Nairobi, but ended up on the losing side on both occasions.

They now face the task of picking themselves up and taking on two more sides which they would be expected to beat, but if there is one thing this week will have taught them, it is not to take anything for granted.

Ireland's next match is against Canada, and while they will surely be favourites, a glance at the week's results shows that both teams have recorded two losses and one win.

Canada claimed their first win of the tournament on Friday when they defeated Bermuda by 64 runs, and Ireland also has one victory against the same opposition.

While the Irish have certainly shown they are capable of beating any side here, especially in the batting department, it is more likely to be their mental aptitude which will be put to the test in the remaining matches.

"It's going to be very difficult to get up for the rest of the matches, knowing that we are out of the tournament," admitted Ireland's coach Adrian Birrell after his side's one-wicket defeat by Kenya on Friday.

"It's very difficult," added Ireland's team manager Roy Torrens. "We prepared so well for this tournament. We went to South Africa for three weeks and trained so hard.

"These teams here are so evenly matched that when it comes down to the last over, it's the rub of the green and I think in fairness, we haven't had the rub of the green in the two close matches. But that's cricket."

Speaking about what lies ahead, Torrens added: "We've got two games left and we certainly don't want to get beaten in the next two matches. We want to go home having won three and narrowly having lost out in two.

"Today's a rest day. We'll do nothing at all to do with cricket. I think the lads have deserved a day off. They'll spend it by the pool. We'll recharge the batteries and I can assure you we will come out tomorrow fighting.

"We always thought that Canada were going to be a threat. Kenya and Scotland were the two top teams that we knew we were going to have to beat, and we've come so close to beating both of them, but Canada can't be taken lightly.

"We'll have a team meeting tonight and the lads will have a good sleep. We'll be up in the morning and then it's back to work again."

Canada has shown they are also capable of producing top-class performances, having beaten Kenya in a tri-nations tournament in Mombasa last week.

"We've proved we can beat the best teams here if we get everything right on the day," said Canada's coach Andy Pick.

"Whether we do or not depends on whether we can get all our skills right on the day."

With captain John Davison's move down the order from his usual position as opener proving to be successful, the Canadians might just opt for a similar tactic against Ireland on Sunday.

"I would like to see John come in further down the order more often," said Pick after Davison's 69 off 49 balls helped his side to victory over Bermuda on Friday.

"Seeing how easily he played the bowling in the middle overs demonstrated just what a threat he could be for teams at that stage in the game."