Georgetown:Ireland captain Trent Johnston urged his team to learn fast and finish their first-ever World Cup campaign on a high, saying improvement will be the key and help them in future.

"It's disappointing to lose the first three matches, but a lot of positives have come out and we can use them for the game against Australia and in the next two to finish on a high," said Johnston after his team's 129-run defeat by New Zealand here on Monday.

"Australia are potentially the best team in the world, so we need to have motivation for that game and be competitive," said Johnston, whose team lost to England by 48 runs and by seven wickets against South Africa in Super Eights.

Ireland, who had upset Pakistan to enter the next round, bowled well upfront in all three matches before being blown away in the middle and end overs.
"You can say that it's inexperience but we must learn with each opportunity and do better and better," he said.

Ireland's best chance to score two points in the Super Eights is against Bangladesh whom they meet in Barbados on April 15. They meet Australia on April 13 also in Barbados before playing their last match against Sri Lanka on April 18 in Grenada.

However, Bangladesh's win over South Africa and their determination to qualify for the semi-finals makes the Irish task difficult.

"We have certain areas to improve, like we need to bowl death overs better than we have done and play spinners well," said Johnston, whose batsmen will face a tough test against Australian pace and Bangladesh's spinners.

They failed to cope against New Zealand spinners Daniel Vettori (4-23) and Jeetan Patel (2-32) and were dismissed for 134, chasing a challenging 264.

Ireland had put pressure on New Zealand through spinners Kyle McCallan and Andrew White who shared four wickets between them, but opener Peter Fulton's 83 and a late flurry from Brendon McCullum (47) and James Franklin (34 not out) allowed New Zealand a escape.

"We bowled some half dozen overs bad and those were in the end. Our spinners bowled outstandingly well, but we let the game slip in the last half dozen overs and chasing 260 was going to be very tough against two spinners," he said.

Johnston said all-rounder Andre Botha was missed in the New Zealand match.

"He (Botha) is one of our best players. We missed him in bowling and his absence left us with little options in the death overs. Kevin (O'Brien), myself and Boyd (Rankin) bowled death overs. It didn't come off and it's something we need to work hard for the next games," he said.

Coach Adrian Birrell said New Zealand were tough opponents.

"We did well in the middle section and spinners did really well, contained them and got wickets, but McCullum and Franklin put it beyond us. The target of 260 plus was a formidable target and we were always going to struggle," said Birrell.

The Irish coach was full of praise for McCullum and Franklin who added 71 for the eighth wicket.

"McCullum has got a double hundred in first class cricket and one hundred in Tests and he batted very well and took the game away from us," he said.

Birrell said New Zealand can win the World Cup.

"New Zealand's chances are very good. I backed South Africa and they lost to Bangladesh. New Zealand's two spinners are handful, (Shane) Bond upfront is a real handful and they have good all rounders and their batting goes down deep, they have a good chance,"he said.