When it comes to the T20 World Cup, only one team, the West Indies, has won the tournament more than once – and Ireland have the chance to dump them out on Friday morning before the Super 12s stage even begins.
Final wins in 2012 and 2016, over Sri Lanka and England respectively, leave them at the top of the roll of honour, but they now face a real test to avoid what would be the crushing blow of not being involved at the business end of things.
If Ireland were to claim what would be a famous win, they would go on to join the top eight teams from the last World Cup as well as Sri Lanka and the Netherlands who have already advanced from their group.
Only once have the West Indies failed to get out of their round one group, and that was in the inaugural 2007 competition when South Africa and Bangladesh instead progressed, but their surprise loss to Scotland has opened the door to a repeat.
Ireland will hope to kick through the door in Hobart, Tasmania, with their battling victory over Scotland really reigniting their Super 12s challenge after an opening loss to West Indies.
Scenes after today's win.
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) October 19, 2022
Travelling supporters 💯 👊#BackingGreen #T20WorldCup ☘️🏏 pic.twitter.com/yOHzdc6XWG
What a boon that would be for Heinrich Malan in his first major tournament as Irish coach and they have already earned a big win over Friday's opponents this year.
That came in the form of Ireland’s 2-1 win in January's one-day, three-game international series in Jamaica, bringing up their sixth and seventh wins over the West Indies in all formats.
An eighth victory on Friday morning [the contest starts at 5am] would be huge and would ensure Ireland’s second time advancing to the second stage of the tournament. They previously managed that in 2009 in what was then the Super 8s rather than the Super 12s.
Each of the four teams in Group B are on two points - which means Scotland versus Zimbabwe is also a winner-takes-all clash so it's set to be an exciting finale to Group B.
For Irish captain Andy Balbirnie, all pressure is on their opponents as they chase that success.
He feels Ireland's ability to rebound from defeat to Zimbabwe by beating Scotland earlier this week has given them fresh belief that they can go on to secure a spot in the main Super 12s stage.
"There's obviously a lot of pressure on the West Indies, coming in as group favourites," he said. "They're going to be expected to win, a lot of people are going to be expecting them to win.
"They've won the competition twice, they've got some hugely experienced T20 players. But we're a good team in our right, too, we've played some pretty good cricket.
"There's some real confidence in the group after (beating Scotland), that was just really special to be there and be a part of and have friends and family there, it's just lifted the group even further.
"It'll be disappointing if we couldn't back it up because if we don't we'll be on the plane on Saturday. Hopefully we can produce something special."
Having slipped to a 31-run defeat to Zimbabwe in their opener, Ireland were staring at elimination after lurching to 61 for four in pursuit of 177 against Scotland, who had earlier stunned the Windies.
But an unbroken 119-run partnership between Curtis Campher and George Dockrell secured a priceless six-wicket triumph for the Irish as they lived to fight another day.
"The beauty of this team is we never really feel out of the game, particularly with our batting. I think that showed (against Scotland)," Balbirnie said.
"The confidence in the group has showed over the last eight to 10 months, we don't go out and fear any team anymore, that's gone out of our mindset.
"Sometimes a team might be more skillful than us on the day and that probably showed against Zimbabwe but there's definitely no fear of any opposition when we go into a game."
Additional reporting: PA
