Match Preview: India vs Ireland

Ground reality and Pitch

The Trent Bridge cricket ground is home to the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. The stadium is considered to be one of the best grounds in the world to watch a cricket match due to the excellent facilities available here. Trent Bridge also features in Indian history with the cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar passing the 11,000 mark in test cricket at this ground. The pitch at Trent Bridge is tilted more in favour of the batsmen with an even bounce on offer.

Temperatures: Min - 8 C Max - 15 C | Conditions: Showers expected

Team updates - India: The sub-continent team has the batting prowess to erect a mountain of runs or scale down any challenging total even in the absence of their explosive opener Virender Sehwag, who has been injured. But their bowling - both at start and at death - is a cause of concern as they have conceded too many runs in the in the first six overs, with field restrictions in place, and also proved uneconomic towards the close. With a berth in the Super Eight Stage already in their pocket, defending champions India will look to sort out their bowling woes when they take on fellow qualifiers Ireland in the final Group A league match in the World Twenty20 Championships at Trent Bridge.

Team updates - Ireland: The Irish cricket team have been known for their surprises ever since their stunning win against Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup at the Caribbean. In a group that provided the team the best chance to qualify to the next round, Ireland made good use of it, beating their fellow minnow Bangladesh and making it to the super 8 stage. The O'Brien brothers showed their skills with the bat against Bangladesh with a combination of the hard hits and subtle strokes. Ireland would hope for the brothers to fire again against a formidable Indian bowling line-up. Although it is an inconsequential match, the Irish would have to play their best cricket against a strong Indian outfit.

X Factor:
Bat - Rohit Sharma and the O'Briens: Rohit Sharma displayed his class against the Bangladesh team and also against Pakistan during India's warm-up clash with their arch rivals. Looking in good touch, India would look at the youngster to fire in the absence of Virender Sehwag. Meanwhile, Niall O'Brien and Kevin O'Brien were in the league of their own during the Irish match against Bangladesh. Their efforts with the bat led to the Bangladeshis being shown the doors. Ireland would bank on the O'Brien brothers to fire again and put up a good show going into the super 8's.

Ball - Pragyan Ojha and Trent Johnston: The talened left-arm spinner made his mark with brilliant bowling for Hyderabad during the IPL. He carried on his form with a career best of 4/21 on his T20 debut match against Bangladesh. He would play a pivotal role for India during their super 8 campaigns. Trent Johnston looked good with the ball against the Bangladeshis, picking up wickets for Ireland up-front. He would play an important role with the ball for the Irish team during their super 8 encounters.

Numbers game:
4: The number of sixers by Yuvraj Singh during India's first match against Bangladesh. Only Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have scored more sixers in the tournament than Yuvraj, having 6 sixers each in their tally.
6.0: With figures of 4/21 against Bangladesh, Pragyan Ojha holds the best bowling strike rate of 6.0 in the current edition of the World T20.
Sound Bytes:
He is a good batsman - that I can say - but all of a sudden comparing him to Yuvraj Singh, there is a big gap in the middle. We all know Yuvraj has proved himself. He is one of the biggest hitters and hits sixes quite consistently. He [O'Brien] is a talented cricketer but he is well below Yuvraj when it comes to hitting big sixes in this format: Indian captain MS Dhoni commenting on the hard-hitting Kevin O'Brien.

Teams:
India (From): Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Pragyan Ojha

Ireland (From): William Porterfield(c), Jeremy Bray, Niall Obrien(w), Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Kevin Obrien, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, Regan West, Alex Cusack, Andre Botha, Boyd Rankin, Peter Connell, Paul Stirling, Andrew White

Match Preview: Sri Lanka vs West Indies

Ground Reality
Trent Bridge has been a good wicket so far in the tournament, with a slight bias towards batsmen. A safe score here would have to be one in excess of 170-175. As is usual in England, rain and thunder are forecast for the day, but so far the tournament has been fortunate to not be too affected by the rains. If this match does get affected, it would be less harmful than would have been expected since both teams are already through to the next stage.

The Teams They were both expected to fight it out for the second qualifying spot in the 'Group of Death', but due to their superb displays against Australia, they have the luxury of treating this match as a warm-up/practice match and trying out new combinations and players. Both teams will make the Super Eights, and the result of this match is immaterial.

Sri Lanka: They put up a thoroughly professional performance to outclass the Australians, and they'll be well pleased with the form of Dilshan and Sangakkara. The heartening aspect for them is that Jayawardene has recovered from his injury in the IPL. The trio are the lynch-pins of the Lankan batting, and much will depend on how they fire. Their bowling is amongst the best in the tournament, and they will be pleased that Ajantha Mendis showed his class in the match against Australia. It showed the value of handling a world-class bowler in the correct fashion - something the Kolkata Knight Riders might want to keep in mind.

West Indies: Although they won convincingly against Australia, too much of their success depends on Chris Gayle. Ideally, they might want to consider not playing him in this match, to give the opportunity for some others to stand up and take the pressure. In the Super Eights, there will surely be a match where Gayle might fail, and then if the remaining players have already had a taste of what it is like to bat in the absence of Gayle, they will be better suited to handling the pressure in a match that is more important. None of their bowlers were particularly impressive against Australia, and they should look at ways for their bowlers to hit their stride before the second phase.

1 - Sanath Jayasuriya's ranking for Sri Lanka in T20 Internationals on the following parameters: Most Runs (343), Highest Strike Rate (150.43 for a minimum of 50 runs scored), and Highest Score made (88). The old warhorse may not be in the best touch, but his value to his side is undisputed.

2.1 - The ratio of the number of runs Chris Gayle has in T20 Internationals against the second highest scorer for the West Indies - Dwayne Smith. Gayle has 349 runs, while Smith has 166. Ironically enough, Smith has not even been picked in the West Indian squad.

Soundbytes:
"The pressure will no doubt be a bit less. But international cricket is serious business, there is no question of taking it easy" - Kumar Sangakkara on the West Indies match.
"Once I can clear the boundary I am satisfied with that, it doesn't matter how far it goes." - Chris Gayle

Teams:
West Indies (From): Chris Gayle(c), Xavier Marshall, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin(w), Darren Sammy, Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Fidel Edwards, David Bernard, Andre Fletcher, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor

Sri Lanka (From): Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara(w/c), Mahela Jayawardene, Jehan Mubarak, Angelo Mathews, Thilan Thushara, Isuru Udana, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Indika de Saram, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chamara Silva