Johnston buoyed by fighting Irish display

IRELAND captain Trent Johnston believes his side have given their confidence a huge boost after coming close to one of the biggest ever upsets in international cricket.

Playing the one-day game’s number one ranked nation, South Africa, in a World Cup warm-up match in St Augustine on Monday, Ireland looked set for an astonishing victory until a late collapse consigned them to a 35-run defeat at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground.

But Johnston feels he and his team-mates can take many plusses from their performance when they meet Zimbabwe in their opening game of the tournament.

“We have had a good start and hopefully we will be able to put other areas of our game together so we will be hitting the straps when we meet Zimbabwe in our opening game,” he said.

“My major goal for my team at this World Cup is to be competitive and we have shown that we are in this first match.”

He added: “The bowlers did very well in particular. The pitch was a new-ball pitch and we made good use of it. This was really great after the struggles we had in Kenya recently.”

South Africa recovered from 91 for eight to post a competitive 192 before dismissing the tournament debutants for 157, who had themselves been 139 for four with 14 overs remaining.

Johnson revealed that when South Africa faltered at 60 for seven, there were thoughts of dismissing them for less than 100. He said: “It did not happen for us, the team did not have the firepower to bowl out South Africa, they did not possess the firepower to end South Africa’s innings early. This hampered us in the end.”

The Proteas’ recovery was down to Andrew Hall (67 not out) and Robin Peterson (29), who added 85 for the ninth wicket.

Hall, who also took three for 26, was happy to get in some practice and is looking forward to more great performances as the tournament progresses.

He said: “I was happy to be out there in the middle. I got a lot of time to bat and this is good for me because I did not get to bat in the middle for about two months.

“I was happy to perform the role that the team wants from me and I know that I can make a contribution to the team’s effort at this World Cup.”

Coach Mickey Arthur was not worried about the close shave, blaming the absence of match practice for the indifferent performance.

“The guys haven’t had a hit for about two weeks and hence the performance you saw out there today,” he said.

“We were looking for a partnership hopefully up front, but it did not happen. However, we were lucky to get it at the end from Hally and Robby.”

Arthur was unconcerned with the performance of his batsmen. He said: “They will come good at the right time. We don’t want to peak too early. The batting will come good soon.”