Zimbabwe and Ireland eye crucial edge

Under-strength Zimbabwe and debutants Ireland may look like a lightweight contest in a World Cup group which also includes West Indies and Pakistan, but for the captains, it's serious business. Both Ireland and Zimbabwe need a win from their clash on March 15 to progress further, and the opposing captains weren't about to give each other an inch.

Trent Johnston, the Australia-born Ireland captain, said his side wanted to make a big impact in the tournament. "If we can turn up, and bring our A-game to the park, especially against Zimbabwe, we think we have a chance there to win. We are entering this match against Zimbabwe with a lot of confidence. We know we have a very tough group, but we have our plans in place, and we are looking to execute them."

Ireland, like Bermuda in Group B, are playing in the World Cup for the first time, and Johnston acknowledged that his side was the least recognised of the four in the group. "West Indies are going to be difficult to beat on home soil and they have that extra bit of an incentive to do well. Pakistan are a world-class team with world-class performers, and Zimbabwe are capable of causing an upset, but there is no reason why we cannot cause an upset of our own. If a bit of luck goes our way, and we execute our plans, I believe we can make it to the next round."

Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwe's captain, said it would be difficult planning for Ireland, since television footage and other information about them was not readily available. "We have been seeking some information about them, but we feel no pressure because we have nothing to lose, since we just have to play to our best. We have been working very hard for the last two months before we came here.

"We have taken some positives out of our warm-up games, so I feel we are moving in the right direction, and we just need to take that momentum into the competition."

Utseya also said that Zimbabwe would like nothing better than to upset a bigger team to regain some measure of respectability. "If the other sides in the group do not take us seriously, it will be to our advantage, and we need to capitalise on it. We have a number of guys that have now played more than 50 ODIs in our side, and they have performed against the best, so they just need to be themselves and do well."