From rxpgnews.com
Johnston elated after Ireland's win
By IANS,
Apr 16, 2007 - 2:07:33 PM
Bridgetown -, April 16 - Ireland captain Trent Johnston rates Sunday as one of the greatest days of his life and said the World Cup victory over Bangladesh was the country's best day of cricket ever.
'It was the best game of cricket I've been involved with in my four years with these guys. It was the best all-round performance we've had - all three disciplines were outstanding,' Johnston told reporters after a lap of honour in front of cheering supporters. 'We played almost a perfect game,' he added.
After a thrilling opening stand of 92 between William Porterfield and Jeremy Bray, the Irish rallied to 243 for seven. They then hustled out the Asian Tigers for 169 to win by 74 runs in front a colourful crowd of over 15,000 at the Kensington Oval.
'I'm pleased with the level of effort the guys put in because it was a first-class effort from a team that deserves to be playing this level of cricket. We had to bounce back from the disappointment against Australia when a lot of people were saying a lot of things about us. We had a good chat after that game and we set new goals,' Johnston said.
Australian-born Johnston was as pleased for the fans who had travelled to Barbados -- having seen the team qualify unexpectedly -- as he was for himself and his team-mates.
'Lots of people spent a lot of money to come over and watch us play two games of cricket and in a huge game against Australia we were nothing short of disappointing, so we had to turn that around quick smart and the guys did that,' Johnston said.
The left-handed Porterfield made a polished 85 at the top of the order to be named Man-of-the-Match.
The best bowler was seamer Dave Langford-Smith, who took two for 27 from 10 overs on a bouncy pitch.
Ireland have been the surprise team of the tournament with their second win, following the shock triumph over Pakistan in the first round. They now move on to Grenada to face Sri Lanka in their final Super Eight match Wednesday.
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