Irish Upbeat Despite Defeat

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Niall O'Brien on his way to 63

Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien was upbeat about his side's opening World Cup Super Eight display, despite seeing his team lose by 48 runs to England in Guyana.

Niall O'Brien who top-scored for the minnows with 63 defended his side's right to be part of the Super Eight stage, insisting they were comfortable at this level for the majority of the match.

"We deserve our place in the Super Eights and the lads played well for 80% of the game. We did well.

"But credit goes to England."

O'Brien credited England slow bowlers - Monty Panesar and skipper Michael Vaughan - for spinning Ireland out of the game.

"The pitch was a good one but Vaughany and Panesar bowled very well and perhaps we could have rotated the strike a little better.

"We'll be working hard on playing the spinners though, the boys don't have a lot of experience against top spinners," he told Sky Sports 1.

England all-rounder Paul Collingwood, who weighed in with 90 in England's innings also impressed O'Brien.

"We were a bit disappointed with (England's score of) 266. We were looking at 240, which would have been reasonable, but we couldn't get our areas right and Collingwood batted very well."

England captain Vaughan hailed the Irish performance - insisting their improvement has been marked since the last time the sides met.

But he admitted his own team had struggled at the top of the order and were hoping to improve in their next Super Eight fixture.

"We got a great total for that pitch, the Irish guys bowled well on a wicket that was quite good for batting.

"We wanted to get the points and we got them.

"We'd love for that to happen (the top three to get big runs) but it hasn't yet and we know that. We now have to work very hard and make sure it does against Sri Lanka.

"But all credit to Ireland, I remember we played them a couple of years ago and they've improved so much."

On his performance with the ball - which saw him take O'Brien's wicket for a rare scalp - he said: "It was just slow bowling really, just tossing them up.

"They came out okay and I've been working on it in the nets so you may see a bit more from me in this tournament."

Collingwood, who was given the man-of-the-match award after adding a wicket to his superb batting performance, admitted he enjoyed his well-paced 90.

"We had to put partnerships together and in the back end (of the innings) we got hold of them.

"We've found since we've been out here that it takes a little time to get in on these wickets. Later on you can make up on the run rate.

"That's my rhythm but I managed to clear the boundary a few times which is good.

"The Irish bowlers bowled well but we managed to regroup and the pitch got better and we really got our runs in the last 10 overs."

Ireland skipper Trent Johnston, meanwhile, promised that his side would still be looking to add another major scalp to their defeat of Pakistan in the group stages.

"Niall O'Brien has been hitting the ball very well and you don't get a cricketer who works harder. He's the backbone and if we can bat around him we can maybe cause a couple more upsets."

Vaughan admitted he was pleased England were up in running in the Super Eight, no matter how they had managed it.

"It's two points, we just needed to win," Vaughan said. "There were areas we can improve but there were also some very good things."

The 32-year-old captain was forced to bring back key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff to bowl at the death, after a flurry of Irish boundaries enlivened a sparse crowd and Johnston took that as a compliment.

"I told Andrew White just to have some fun, we needed 13 runs an over and there was no need getting uptight about it," said Johnston.

"It came off for a handful of overs and it was great credit to us that Michael Vaughan brought Andrew Flintoff back to clean up the tail.

"I don't know if he's 100% fit but he certainly doesn't look it to me."

However, Vaughan insisted there was no concern over Flintoff, who often appears to be limping on the field but had ankle surgery last summer.

"I never envisaged not bringing him back," said Vaughan. "He's fine.

"He was required to come on to bowl at the end because we didn't get it right for a while, they got a few runs, and you always turn to your best bowlers when that happens."

Ireland were left to reflect on a brave effort but Johnston reckoned they were below-par on previous performances at this World Cup.

"I am proud and disappointed at the same time," said Johnston. "It is another learning curve for us but we have got five more games and hopefully we can improve with each one.

"We were 20 to 25% short of our best here."