Indian bowler Mohit Sharma during the Cricket World Cup match against Ireland in Hamilton. Photo / Christine Cornege
Indian bowler Mohit Sharma during the Cricket World Cup match against Ireland in Hamilton. Photo / Christine Cornege
The banner read 'Ireland: you're potatoes in our curry tonight' and that summed up India's open-wicket practice to reinforce their status as World Cup contenders.
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma concocted the perfect recipe blending caution with cavalier in the eight-wicket win with 79 balls to spare. India's fifth consecutivevictory continued their record of bowling every side out at the tournament although Ireland's 259 in 49 overs is the highest score made against them.
Dhawan and Sharma entertained a capacity crowd with an opening stand of 174 in 23.2 overs (run rate 7.46) to put the game beyond doubt. For players used to the helter-skelter world of the Indian Premier League, this was the equivalent of a knock-about at their local maidan. Again the Indian batsmen demonstrated controlled aggression in sync with bowlers who applied effective restrictions.
The pool B leaders cleared the rope nine times and hit 24 fours. Drums beat in rhythm for most of the chase; a reminder of the defending champions' steady tempo through the tournament. They play Zimbabwe on Saturday in Auckland. Ireland face a quarter-final determining fixture against Pakistan on Sunday in Adelaide.
Dhawan's 100 off 85 balls was his eighth ODI century and Sharma's 64 off 66 balls was his 25th half-century. The left/right combination had the Irish bowlers struggling for line and length as they peppered the boundary at will and rotated the strike with soft-handed singles.
Indian bowler Suresh Raina. Photo / Christine Cornege
The conclusion was simple for the associate side: bowling remains their biggest impediment to sustained success.
Conversely their batting demonstrated fortitude. Memories of convivial evenings in Dublin's Temple Bar district sprang to mind as strains of Van Morrison and U2 blared from the Seddon Park speakers but, for the majority of the first innings, Ireland's batsmen made the music with a series of harmonious partnerships.
Cricket World Cup match at Seddon Park between India and Ireland in Hamilton. Photo / Christine Cornege
Each of Ireland's top seven have played for English counties; all but one had played 50 or more ODIs; and all but two have played 30 or more first-class matches.
"Exposure to top level cricket is a big thing," Porterfield said. "We've had nine ODIs against test teams in the last four years [between World Cups].
"It's disappointing not to get that experience because the skill factor's there."
At 206 for three in the 39th over they had imposed themselves; India recoiled under a rare bout of tournament pressure. It didn't last.
Mohammed Shami's three for 41 from nine overs and Ravi Ashwin's two for 38 from 10 provided the bowling highlights.
After deciding to bat, captain William Porterfield and opening partner Paul Stirling established the innings with 89 runs in 15 overs. Stirling exited for 42 off 41 balls and, after Ed Joyce misjudged a cut shot from the off spin of Suresh Raina 14 balls later, Niall O'Brien continued the show.
Porterfield (67 off 93 balls) and O'Brien (75 off 75) put on 56 for the third wicket and O'Brien and Andrew Balbirnie (24 off 24) made 51 for the fourth. Balbirnie's top edge to short fine leg from Ashwin set a collapse in motion as India revived, taking five wickets for 21 in the space of 22 balls. John Mooney (12), George Dockrell (six) and Alex Cusack (11) added 32 for the final two wickets.
Irish batsman Stuart Thompson dives to make ground but was out. Photo / Christine Cornege
India flexed their bowling and fielding muscle as the innings endured. Late wickets from Ravi Jadeja, Ashwin and Shami - and the run out of Stuart Thompson from Virat Kohli - proved pivotal as captain MS Dhoni reasserted control.
"It was stopping enough for the batsmen to play their shots but with the new ball still coming on," Dhoni said. "I think this is the slowest New Zealand wicket we will see. I expect all the other wickets we play on to be similar to what we have played on [in Australia]."
