Balbirnie Revels in Opening Role as Ireland Hammer Hong Kong

Andrew Balbirnie was asked to step up and open the innings today in Ireland's T20 World Cup opening Warm Up Game.

Having had a slow enough winter with the bat Balbirnie must have been apprehensive. However that apprehension did not appear to find its way to his bat as he and fellow opener and Captain, William Porterfield set about Ireland's target of 120, chasing it down with 46 balls to spare.

Gaining confidence from his Partners experience Balbirnie was the perfect foil for the Skipper ending up 47 not out in a partnership of 122. Hopefully he can continue this encouraging start into the rest of the tournament.

Barry Chambers: Andrew well batted. Did you always know you were going to be opening today?

Andrew Balbirnie: `Purdy' (William Porterfield) told me this morning, sort of after we had our meeting. Obviously `Stirlo' (Paul Stirling) was a bit ill. So they kind of thought that I would go up top. It's kind of nice to get some runs. I've had a slow enough winter, and not as successful as I would have liked. So to come to this Warm Up Game in India and score some runs straight away is very satisfying.

Barry Chambers: Do you prefer when the ball is new, a bit of hardness, getting used to the conditions, it's probably the top three have the only chance really to play themselves in, in T20?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah, like I've played a lot of my cricket in Ireland or with Ireland in the middle order. I haven't played much under lights. But I found it quite comfortable today. Obviously batting with William, as experienced as he is, helps me along. But yeah, no definitely the new ball, and the hard ball, obviously the field is in. It gives you a chance to get value for your shots.

Barry Chambers: And I don't think I've seen William playing as positively in a long long time, maybe one or two innings before that?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah, no he's in great form. He's obviously a top class player. And for your Captain to score runs, and obviously to win by 10 wickets, is the ideal start. And if he can continue that form throughout the World Cup, we'll then we'll be very successful.

Barry Chambers: The bowling unit came in for a bit of criticism during the 2015 World Cup. But you seem now to have got good variety. Boyd Rankin obviously adds an extra dimension to it. But everyone just seems to be really on top of their game at the minute?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah absolutely. And we've obviously got people like Craig Young waiting to come in as well. So we've got a lot of depth in our bowling at the moment. We're in a good place. The guys have bowled well in the T20 Series before this, whereas the batters weren't doing as well. So for the batters to come out and chase these runs down fairly comfortably, is very satisfying. And obviously the bowlers did a terrific job. I think they were three or four down in the first five. So yeah it was an ideal start. But it's only a Warm Up Game. We don't want to look too much into it. It's a good way to start, but there's a lot of cricket left to be played.

Barry Chambers: And obviously momentum going in, it's three games, I mean it's do or die isn't it, there's not much margin for error?

Andrew Balbirnie: Yeah absolutely. We've got to be hitting the ground running come the 9th of March, and we know that. So it's keep building from a good training camp in Chandigarh to now, and obviously the next game against Zimbabwe in a couple of days, all leading to that first game. And you know, it is do or die. You've got to win all three basically. So we'll be going in with that attitude.