UNDATED : Ireland captain William Porterfield won the toss and opted to field first in their World Cup Pool B match against United Arab Emrates at the Gabba in Brisbane today.
Ireland defeated West Indies in their opening match of the tournament and will go in as favourites in their first one-day international against the UAE, who ran Zimbabwe close before losing to the Africans by four wickets in their first match.
‘It’s going to be a belter of a pitch throughout the day so probably come out first and there will be a bit of swing in this humidity,’ Porterfield said at the toss. The Irish made just one change to their playing side from their match against West Indies, bringing in pace bowler Alex Cusack for off-spinner Andy McBrine on the seamer-friendly conditions at the Gabba. Off-spinner Nasir Aziz also made way for left-arm seamer Manjula Guruge in the only change in the Emirati team. UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir said he would have batted first if he had won the toss.
‘We wanted to bat first and I think it’s a good toss to lose. We need to bat 50 overs, put the runs on the board and put them under pressure,’ the 43-year-old Tauqir said. ‘It’s hot and humid conditions and it’s good to be batting.’
Teams:
Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney, Alex Cusack, Max Sorensen, George Dockrell
UAE: Amjad Ali, Andri Berenger, Krishna Chandran, Khurram Khan, Swapnil Patil, Shaiman Anwar, Rohan Mustafa, Amjad Javed, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Tauqir (captain), Manjula Guruge.
(AGENCIES)
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