26 October,2022 08:12 AM IST | Melbourne | AFP
England skipper Jos Buttler
Captain Jos Buttler warned his strongly fancied England side on Tuesday they risk getting "hurt" if they underestimate Ireland at the Twenty20 World Cup.
England launched their title charge by beating Afghanistan by five wickets in Perth on Saturday, with their bowling and fielding outstanding. Sam Curran was the star with an incredible 5-10 - the first England bowler to take five wickets in a T20I.
In contrast Ireland, who came through the preliminary round, were thrashed by nine wickets by Sri Lanka in Hobart. Despite the apparent gulf in class - England are ranked world number two and Ireland 12 - there will be no complacency with only the top two from the six-team group progressing to the semi-finals.
"We give them great respect, we expect a really tough game," Buttler said ahead of Wednesday's clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground. "We'll prepare well, we'll try and turn up on the day and assess conditions, see what's in front of us, try and use our talent as best we can on the day to put pressure on them, and try and win the game."
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With Group 1 games to come against defending champions Australia, last year's beaten finalists New Zealand and 2014 winners Sri Lanka, there could be a temptation to rest players or rotate bowlers. But Buttler was adamant it was important to field the best team possible. "In such a short tournament, in must-win games pretty much every time, we try and get our best team on...the best team on the day due to conditions, opposition," he said.
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