CRICKET WORLD TWENTY20 : IRELAND WERE forced to take cover for a second straight day in Nottingham yesterday as a deluge forced them to fine-tune their World Twenty20 preparations in the indoor nets.

Come 1.30 this afternoon there will be no more hiding places at Trent Bridge as they open their campaign against Bangladesh in a game that realistically offers the winners the only hope of making it to the Super Eights stage of the competition.

With India having beaten Bangladesh by 25 runs here on Saturday night, Ireland skipper William Porterfield is well aware his side have one shot at it ahead of a daunting clash against the world champions on Wednesday evening.

'We know it is a final now between the two of us to see who goes through and we will be going into the game thinking like that,' said Porterfield, who believes Ireland have come on in leaps and bounds since their World Cup debut two years ago.

'We have got stronger and I think the depth in our squad has got stronger. I think lads have improved, they're learning the game better, picking up on things more quickly,' he added.

Ireland will take plenty of belief into today's game, having beaten Bangladesh in the Super Eights stage in Barbados, a match in which Porterfield made 85 and took the man-of-the-match honours in the 74-run victory.

It was a team performance described by then-coach Adrian Birrell as the finest of his spell and one Porterfield believes must be replicated against a Bangladesh side which have far more experience of this form of cricket.

'It doesn't matter who we play, we have to be on our game in all three departments. In that game we were. I think it's equally important tomorrow, if not more so, because of the shortened format of the game.

'You've got to have that intensity from ball one regardless of whether you're in the field or batting. I think it's important that all three disciplines are bang on tomorrow.'

Ireland coach Phil Simmons has been somewhat frustrated in the build-up to today's game by the wet weather, although he believes the cool conditions in Nottingham may benefit his side.

'I don't like indoor practice leading up to a match, I'd rather be outside. But this is what we have to work with and the other teams have the same problem,' said Simmons 'Our God is good and I've been asking for cold weather for them for the last two weeks. It's supposed to be good tomorrow, but the wickets have been covered so there might be a bit of juice in it, which will be good,' he added.

A touch of green in the wicket may be too much to ask for, but Saturday's opening game here showed that spin may well be king in the group matches as eight of the 13 wickets that fell went to slow bowlers.

In that respect, the performances of Kyle McCallan and Regan West will be key to Ireland's success, as will Bangladesh's assortment of twirlers, led by the world's top-ranked One Day all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan.

Although he admitted team selection will be particularly tough, Simmons did confirm yesterday that Porterfield will be joined at the top of the order by Jeremy Bray, while Niall O'Brien will bat at number three.

He's confident also that his side are hitting their straps at just the right time.

'I think it's a learning process for us but I think the guys have picked up things quickly. Today I was happy with the session because we look like we have an idea of where we want to go and what we want to do during the game,' added Simmons.

A belief then that Ireland can again make their mark on the world stage, and, with upwards of 1,500 of the Blarney Army expected to descend on Trent Bridge this afternoon, they will not lack for motivation.

IRELAND (from): W Porterfield (capt), A Botha, J Bray, P Connell, A Cusack, T Johnston, K McCallan, J Mooney, K O'Brien, N O'Brien (wkts), B Rankin, P Stirling, R West, A White, G Wilson.

BANGLADESH (from): M Ashraful (capt), A Razzak, J Siddique, Mahmudullah, M Mortaza, M Ali, M Rahim (wkts), N Islam, R Hasan, R Hossain, S Hossain, S Rahman, S Al Hasan, S Rasel, T Iqbal.

This article first appeared in the print edition of the Irish Times.