Scorecard

Even when being trashed, Irish eyes refused to stop smiling - in fact, the delight on the faces of Irish fans, as captured by the television cameras when Boyd Rankin took Upul Tharanga out for a duck in the first over of the Sri Lankan chase was alone worth the price of admission (or cable connection, in my case).

This is where it all ends for a bunch of part-time cricketers, most of whom had to burn up the wires asking their bosses back home for an extension of their leave. The Irish hadn't expected to progress beyond the first stage and had taken leave accordingly; their unexpected progress triggered calls on the order of `Boss, can I have another three weeks off? I'm playing in something called Super Eights!'

The smiling Irish - and their cheerful, dancing fans - have added much to the tapestry of this World Cup; they will be remembered for the sheer joie de vivre they brought to this tournament, the chicken dances and general cheer, and not for the damp squib their final game, against Sri Lanka at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada today, turned out to be.

Their team selection for the final outing was characteristic of their entire campaign. Andrew White was dropped; Kenny Carroll - a leg break bowler with the reputation of being a big hitting opener -- was given a go. He has, captain Trent Johnston pointed out, been full of enthusiasm in the nets; he deserved a go on the big stage.

Carroll lasted just two deliveries against Muralitharan - but oh joy, he dived headlong, sideways, to pull off a great catch when Kumar Sangakkara failed to keep a drive down, off the bowling of Langford-Smith; the catch cued an encore of the chicken dance that has acquired a legion of fans.

That has been the story of this Irish campaign - a chance on the big stage, an opportunity to show that even `minnows' can play with courage and enthusiasm, and with skill.

While on selection, Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene underlined how disingenuous he was being, when he said Muralitharan and Vaas had been rested against Australia the other day because it's been a long competition, when he included both bowlers in the lineup for today.

Mahela of course had an explanation: they have had their rest, it is now time for them to get back into the groove, he said - and by way of furthering the process perhaps, he inserted Ireland after winning the toss.

At the end of seven overs, Ireland with 20/0 had done a damn sight better than England did yesterday against South Africa - but that was about as good as it got.

In the eighth over, Jeremy Bray welcomed Fervez Maharoof into the attack with successive fours, through square leg and covers, but was done in by a slower ball next up. The fifth ball of that over took out Andre Botha, the sixth accounted for Eoin Morgan, and the writing on the wall became very legible.

Muralitharan came on in the 19th over, found Niall O'Brien's edge with his second ball, went through Carroll's attempted sweep off the fourth, and found Kevin O'Brien's edge with the first ball of his second over.

It was a procession, briefly interrupted by a cameo from Langford-Smith; Chaminda Vaas who unusually for him failed to take wickets in his first spell came back to end the little effort, and Sri Lanka had bowled Ireland out for 77, inside 28 overs (it constituted a bit of a recovery, actually, since Ireland was 54/9 in the 23rd over). That last wicket partnership in fact edged Ireland's score ahead of the 74 Pakistan had made against England in the 1992 World Cup, and ranked 6th in the roster of lowest World Cup totals.

Jayawardene and Jayasuriya then bullied the ball around, sealing the eight-wicket win in the 10th over. The scorecard shows the gulf between the two sides - but the Irish, who came to this tournament to prove a point, have more than done their bit; their fans were still dancing in the stands as the players walked off.