MELBOURNE (Reuters) – England captain Jos Buttler said they have “great respect” for Ireland and there is no question of complacency creeping in during Wednesday’s Super 12 match at the T20 World Cup.
Ireland, who famously beat England in a 2011 ODI World Cup match in Bangalore, eliminated twice winners West Indies to make the second round for the first time since 2009.
England began their quest for a second T20 World Cup crown with a clinical victory against Afghanistan and Buttler said they would not hold anything back against Ireland.
“Anytime you take things for granted or you don’t respect the opposition is when you can get hurt,” the opener told a news conference on Tuesday.
“I think in T20 cricket especially, there’s the one format where it’s as level a playing field as any.
“We give them great respect. We expect a really tough game.”
Buttler said there would be a “natural rivalry” on the pitch between the two sides.
“I think anytime we play sort of nations close to home, that brings natural rivalry. It brings some history of certain things into the game,” he added.
Ireland coach Heinrich Malan said they were looking forward to the contest.
“We haven’t played them in white ball cricket for a long period of time, so it’ll be a nice challenge,” the South African said, adding that they were looking for ways to curb England’s explosive batting order.
“Hopefully our bowlers can go out there and be clear in their own preparation.
“They’ve all got their own strengths, and if they can play towards them and be clear around that, hopefully they execute well, then we can be on the good end of it.”
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
