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Minnows can spring a surprise or two

London: Ireland, Scotland or the Netherlands are unlikely to win the ICC World Twenty20, but anyone tempted to dismiss them as easy opponents needs to only look at the impact that lower-profile teams have had in recent 50-over tournaments.

Ireland reached the Super Eight stage at the 2007 World Cup after tying with Zimbabwe and beating Pakistan to knock it out of the competition.

In 2003, Kenya reached the semifinals after defeating Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on its way to the last four.

Best chance

Of the three teams, Ireland has the best chance of reaching the Super Eight stage, thanks to a kind draw. Few expect the Irish to beat India, but Bangladesh can be beaten, according to Ireland batsman Kevin O’Brien.

“(Bangladesh’s) best chance to win a game (is against us) in the group and get through to the Super Eight, and it’s our best chance as well,” O’Brien said.

“We’ll go out there, and hopefully we can get a few more games out of it.

“Bangladesh and India are in our group and they bring such great crowds and such a noise, we have to just live for those two games because you might never play in front of 28,000 again.”

The perennial problem for all associate nations is being unable to field their best players. — AP

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