Confident Ireland Stun West Indies in 2015 Group B World Cup Opener


Following Ireland's stunning victory over two times World Cup winners the West Indies, Newstalk's latest recruit Pat Kenny talks to one of Ireland's newest recruits Andrew Balbirnie.


Pat Kenny: But first Ireland has stunned the West Indies in a brilliant start to their World Cup campaign in New Zealand today. The team secured a memorable four wicket victory over the test playing team in the Saxton Oval in Nelson. Player Andrew Balbirnie joins me on the line from New Zealand, hello Andrew.

Andrew Balbirnie: Pat how are you?

Pat Kenny: I'm great thank you, congratulations.

Andrew Balbirnie: Thanks very much. Yeah it was a good day. We had a good day today, in which everything seemed to come off. It was one of those days.

Pat Kenny: That's understating it I think, it was a fantastic day.

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah it was, I mean we've had a good prep building up to this game, and you know we all came in with a positive mindset. And from the first over we sort of, we played the way we wanted to, and it seemed to come off today. And we had an incredible chase there this evening in Nelson. It was a great day to be here.

Pat Kenny: Now talk me through the way it happened, I mean you won the toss and put them in, is that it?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah we won the toss, put them in, you know we though we've been here a week now, and we thought there'd be a bit in it for the Bowlers in the morning. We got four or five early wickets, and then they got a bit of a partnership and got 300. And you know the top four batters, Paul Stirling, William Porterfield, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien just looked so comfortable at the crease, and played with such freedom, that it never actually really looked in danger. We always thought from the first over that we could go on and chase the total.

Pat Kenny: It's interesting, when you saw that total, what was it, 304 they had for 7. Even at that point did you say, ah this is doable, we can do this?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah, you know it's a small enough ground here Nelson, and the wicket was quite flat towards the back end of their innings. So we thought that was about a par score on that wicket. So we thought if we got off to a good start and set a good platform for our middle order, that we could chase it down, and fairly convincingly. And we managed to do that.

Pat Kenny: What sort of reaction were you seeing, first of all I'm sure there were lots of Irish fans there, but from the West Indies fans, I mean this was a real slap in the face for them?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah, you know, a lot of people would have saw this fixture as a West Indies win. But we didn't see it like that at all. We went into the game feeling we could win the game. And we had such good support at Nelson today. It was such a picturesque ground, with so much green sitting on the banks. It was almost like a home game in Dublin. It was really really tremendous.

Pat Kenny: Now the West Indies fans are usually very flamboyant, lots of dancing and cheering. What was it like at the end?

Andrew Balbirnie: It was all a bit like surreal for me, particularly being my first World Cup. A few of the lads have been involved in World Cups before. So they've experienced that win. But it was just such a relief to kind of be able to start the tournament that well, and particularly get the first win in the group stage in the first game. And we're all just delighted, and we're looking forward to the next game against UAE.

Pat Kenny: And that's happening on the 25th in Brisbane.

Andrew Balbirnie: In Brisbane yes.

Pat Kenny: What sort of form do they have? I mean are the all UAE players or are there a lot of imports on their team?

Andrew Balbirnie: No they are mainly based in Dubai. They're a dangerous team. We know them quite well. We played them in a one day tournament leading up to the World Cup qualification period. And we know them quite well. So, you know, we're going into that game confident obviously from today, and looking to get two from two next week.

Pat Kenny: What about tonight in New Zealand, what's on the cards?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah like it's obviously great to get a win. We need to enjoy our wins whenever we get them. So we'll have a couple of beers tonight and we'll enjoy ourselves. But we're very focused on the next game as well. So we'll be wary of that and we'll be back to business in a couple of days when we get to Brisbane.

Pat Kenny: Well I'll tell you, you can share with the lads the sense of delight and surprise that Ireland has woken up to this morning with news of your great win against the West Indies, and congratulations. And enjoy tonight Andrew.

Andrew Balbirnie: Cheers Pat, thanks very much.

Pat Kenny: All the best, bye.

Andrew Balbirnie: Cheers, bye.