Ireland inspires UAE

Cricket's part-timers from the United Arab Emirates have drawn inspiration from Ireland as they prepare to confront Zimbabwe in their opening World Cup match in Nelson on Thursday.

Just as Ireland stunned the West Indies with a four-wicket win on the same Saxton Oval wicket on Monday, the lowly-ranked UAE side have dared to dream that they too are capable of an upset.

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"It was a great win for Ireland. Most of the associate nations are doing well and we would like to prove a point also," UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir, an investment banker by profession, said Wednesday.

"Every individual in the team has his own target and goals and collectively we are looking forward to at least getting a couple of wins against Test nations. That's what we're targeting."

But the odds are considerably higher for UAE against Zimbabwe than they were for Ireland against the West Indies.

Zimbabwe showed their credentials by posting 277 in their opening Pool B match against the highly-vaunted South African bowling attack after being set a target of 339.

The UAE weekend amateurs are the least experienced side in the competition where even Ireland, while also not full members of the International Cricket Council, have most of their players hardened by exposure to English county cricket.