Johnston hoping Irish can flow

Prospective Ireland coach Phil Simmons, Trent Johnston and Ireland coach Adrian Birrell

Ireland captain Trent Johnston leads Ireland into their World Cup opener against Zimbabwe on Thursday confident that they can confound expectations and reach the next round of the competition.

The Irish are not thought to have much of a chance in Group D, where they face hosts the West Indies and Pakistan in addition to the Zimbabweans.

But Johnston is adamant that they have not arrived in the Caribbean solely to make up the numbers and insists that a place in the Super Eight stage is not beyond his side.

The New South Wales-born all-rounder admits that the standard of cricket will be high in all the matches but believes good fortune could have a role to play.

“If a bit of luck goes our way, and we execute our plans, I believe we can make it to the next round.

Johnson is expecting a tough clash with Zimbabwe on Thursday © Getty Images

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“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.

“West Indies are going to be difficult to beat on home soil, and they have that extra bit of an incentive to do well,” he said.

“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 too.”

Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya is taking nothing for granted against the Irish, after admitting his side have struggled to compile reports on their opponents.

“We have been seeking some information about them, but it is not readily available,” he said.

“We feel no pressure though, because we have nothing to lose. We just have to play to our best.

“We have been working very hard for the last two months before we came to the Caribbean, and we did well to win some games in a series at home against Bangladesh.

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

“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,” he said.

“We have a number of guys that have now played more than 50 One-Day Internationals in our side, and they have performed against the best, so they just need to be themselves and do well.”