by Ireland will go to great lengths to cause one final shock at the T20 World Cup and indirectly raise England’s semi-final hopes, according to Josh Little.
While Ireland are not mathematically out of the game for the semi-finals, realistically the best they can hope for is a top four finish in the Super 12, securing their qualification for the 2024 tournament.
Having stunned the West Indies to reach this stage before beating England with a big surprise, Ireland can score a hat-trick of upset wins when they face New Zealand in Adelaide on Friday.
Such a result means England will only have to beat Sri Lanka to get a spot in the top two, which would result in Ireland’s fourth place in the group.
However, Little’s only concern was that Ireland had ended its campaign with a flourish.
Little said, “You’ve seen upheavals almost every day or every couple of days, if you can still call it upsets. There is no reason why another disturbance cannot be caused.
“They are all quite competitive. It’s a World Cup. Anything could happen. We are going out there completely confident in hopes of getting a win. The boys are feeling well and I hope to take another scalp ”.
Little has been among the most reliable Irish performers in Australia, with the left arm striker taking eight wickets in six games at 20.87 each and with a more than useful economy rate of 7.26.
He followed the figures of 3-0-16-2 in a rain-hit five-run win over England at the MCG last week with two of 21 of four overs in Monday’s defeat to Australia in Brisbane.
Ireland slipped to 25 out of five in pursuit of 180 against Australia, but Lorcan Tucker’s 71 out of 48 ball unbeaten run kept the hosts and reigning champions from winning more than they could have hoped for.
The margin of victory of 42 points means that Australia’s net rate is still lower than that of New Zealand and England, with whom they are tied for points before the final round of group matches.
Little believes their reaction is indicative of their spirit and improvement in recent years.
He added: “We really talked about it. If you look back a couple of years ago, if you saw an Irish team 25 for five, you would think “well, that game is done”. He turns off the TV.
“We were saying we’ve come this far to really get to where we are and show the Aussie kids that a couple of our kids are right up there.
“Doing this has been very enjoyable and puts the guys in a good position for what’s to come.”
