"Only the strong survive,
Only the strong survive,
Well, you've got to be a man, you've got to take a stand
Only the strong survive, only the strong survive"

The lines from this 1968 Jerry Butler song, covered by Elvis Presley, sum up Ireland's performance in the group stages of the World Cup T20 Qualifiers here in Abu Dhabi.

Ireland are akin to the fastest gun in the west in the old movies. Everyone wants to beat them but in that heartbeat of a decision that determines who lives and who dies, the experienced hand wins out. Now and again the Ireland gun will jam and they will be wounded but they won't die.

In both their second and third matches of the group Ireland stared defeat in the face but on both occasions the opposition blinked and the strong survived. In match two Canada needed just 46 off five overs to win with eight wickets in hand, and eventually seven runs off three balls but a superb diving stop on the boundary by Kevin O'Brien prevented a super over and ensured a two run win. Then the home town team UAE looked likely to bring the down the favourites until that wily old gunslinger Trent Johnston blew them away in the last five balls of the innings.

This doesn't happen by accident, it comes about because every player trusts his team mates and the system and believe that they can always win no matter how improbable it seems. In this regard they are the Associate cricket equivalent of the All Blacks (sorry to have to mention them so soon after last Sunday evening).

Perusing the individual stats for the tournament to date wouldn't lead you to believe that Ireland are the dominant team, but that is simply because everyone is taking a stand and unlike other teams not relying on a couple of players. The other factor that differentiates Ireland from the rest is their fielding epitomised by the last game against Hong Kong when three great catches and a stumping snuffed out the early threat of an upset. The magnet that is George Dockrell now has nine catches, more than anyone else in the Tournament including wicketkeepers.

I have no idea how Hong Kong prepared for the key game last Sunday but I would be absolutely certain that they didn't have a fancy dress party as Ireland did. No wonder Paul Stirling got 77 at the top of the order. If the Hong Kong players saw the photos of Paul on twitter wearing his long blond wig, Elton John shades and a pink satin number they wouldn't have slept too well. Ireland took mental disintegration to its limit. Only the strong survive!!

There are of course a lot of other interesting sights and sounds around apart from the Ireland performance. There was the sight of Italy cricket supremo Simone Gambino falling to his knees last Saturday afternoon as Italy shocked UAE and ensured a place in the play-offs. His dream of getting to a World Cup finals was still alive after what he told me was "the greatest day in Italian cricket". He is now praying that Italy can make it to the televised stage as he believes that this would engender sponsorship that could help take his country to the next level.

Standing in their path is Scotland who made the extraordinary mistake of trusting an ICC calculation and ended up in fourth place in the group by just 0.000026 on run rate which means that their failure to do their own calculation ensures that they cannot win the competition and must win two more games to qualify. Should Scotland lose to Italy today, at least their supporters back home will probably have the consolation of free chips for lunch from the many Italian chippers in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Then there are the bowlers who mistakenly seemed to be under the impression that this cricket Tournament doubled up as a trial for a Minor League Baseball franchise. All that was missing from the field was a pitcher's mound. By and large they have been cleared by their Home Boards although the scrutiny of the televised matches may precipitate a rethink although I wouldn't be holding my breath on it. Ironically the ICC press release announcing that UAE bowler, Nasir Aziz's action had been cleared, was accompanied by a photo of his elbow at 90 degrees throwing in from the outfield. At least that's what I think it was.

Many ICC Tournaments over the years have been disrupted by rain but the last place you would expect it to happen is in the Gulf. Yet last Thursday and Friday morning saw three matches fall victim to the heaviest deluge for a decade. This led to the closure of the schools in the area as it was considered too dangerous to drive on the wet roads. However nobody seemed to tell that to the multitude of boy racers who appear to believe that the main streets through the city of Abu Dhabi is a Grand Prix practice circuit. At least one such driver had the good sense to calculate that he would do less damage to his car by crashing into a pole than into my distinguished colleague Ger Siggins. Fortunately Ger escaped with a few bruises and torn clothes. The car is in intensive care.

One of the non-cricketing highlights of the week occurred in the media centre, which in reality should be renamed the Ireland media centre as the Irish media outnumber all of the rest combined. The reaction of normally unflappable Barry Chambers, when he read a spoof match report from the aforementioned Mr Siggins, brought the house down as apoplexy engulfed him and he only calmed down when it dawned on him that he had been set up. Unfortunately I am unable to reveal the content of the report as this would be my first and last column if I did.

So it on to the final few days of the Tournament and hopefully William Porterfield will be raising the trophy above his head on Saturday evening.

The views expressed in this column are very much my own and clearly should not be interpreted as the view of the editor. He is well capable of giving his own views.