For Porterfield, a 2-1 series win over Afghanistan in December and the presence of all-rounders Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien, batsman Ed Joyce, pace bowler Tim Murtagh and left-arm spinner George Dockrell give him confidence.

“As a group of players we're very confident going into the Qualifier, and that confidence comes from a lot of hard work, and performances over the past 10 or 12 ODIs. The work we've put in has built us up nicely to the start of the tournament,” said Porterfield, not worried about the groupings, which place his team in Group A along with the West Indies, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.

“I think whichever group we went into would be a tough group. I think we're going to be confident going into the group regardless of who we're playing against. The Dutch - who we're up against first - are a strong team, they can be a very dangerous side, with a few match-winners in the team, and like any game in the group we're going to be at the top of our game to beat them."

Porterfield is confident about the balance of the side though he is cautious that being acknowledged as one of the better sides may mean that other sides will be looking to beat them.

“We're a pretty balanced side, which gives us great confidence going into the tournament. Regardless of who we come up against, I believe we can match anything and perform in all aspects of the game. Whether it's our seam attack, our batting or the spin department, we have the bases fairly well covered and we're just looking forward to cracking on now and getting into the tournament,” said the team’s leading batsman.

IRELAND: William Porterfield (captain), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson