Fi:, external Ireland v West Indies - this could be interesting if Gayle is out early!

The bustling Max Sorensen opens up from the other end. The West Indies get the scoreboard ticking over with a leg bye, before Dwayne Smith gets the first runs off the bat with a rather streaky single through gully. Good start by Sorensen.

Graeme Swann
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"Doesn't seem to be a great deal of bounce so bowling short isn't the way to go but there looks to be some shape."

John Mooney, looking like a trendy Shoreditch barber with his lustrous beard and heavily-inked forearms, takes the new nut for Ireland. There's a big shout for caught behind as a little noise accompanies a loose stroke from Dwayne Smith, but he seemed to just hit the ground with his bat. No great pace from Mooney, but he's on the money first up - maiden over.

Graeme Swann
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"The West Indies are so disillusioned at the minute you never know if Ireland are actually favourites. When they beat England no one expected that so it's a different prospect when you're expected to win."

Chris Gayle trots out to bat for the West Indies alongside Dwayne Smith, looking to put his recent poor form behind him...

Anthem time. We're treated to a very jaunty rendering of 'Ireland's Call', sung with commendable gusto by the Ireland team. Then it's 'Rally Round the West Indies', which is an absolute belter of a tune, but not too many vocals in the Windies ranks, all stern and serious beneath their shades.

We're at the 5,000-capacity Saxton Oval in Nelson, the smallest of all the World Cup venues, but there still appear to be plenty of empty seats.

Pete Naylor:, external Really looking forward to this game. Real chance for an upset, which is always fun!

Image source, Getty Images

The West Indies have one of the proudest World Cup histories of any nation, having won the tournament on two occasions.

But despite winning the World T20 in 2012, the men from the Caribbean have struggled on the international stage in recent years, and they arrive at this World Cup at a particularly low moment.

Established players Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo were left out of the squad in acrimonious circumstances, and the team, under the unlikely captaincy of 22-year-old Jason Holder, have won just one of their last nine ODIs, and only just scraped past Scotland in their last warm-up match.

Then again, they do boast the talents of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels in a mercurial line-up, so they could yet surprise everyone and go deep into this tournament.

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland have plenty of history when it comes to World Cup upsets.

The men in green memorably beat Pakistan at the 2007 tournament and then humbled England in 2011, with Kevin O'Brien smashing the fastest century in World Cup history.

They won the ICC World Cricket League to qualify for this tournament, confirming their status as the strongest of the Associate nations, and with the young talent of Paul Stirling, George Dockrell and Max Sorensen in their ranks, there is real hope that they can enjoy another strong tournament here and reach the knockout stages.

West Indies XI: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (capt), Sulieman Benn, Jerome Taylor.

Ireland XI: William Porterfield (capt), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Andy Balbirnie, Gary Wilson (wk), Kevin O'Brien, John Mooney, Max Sorensen, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine.

Ireland captain William Porterfield: "We've been here for a couple of days and it has swung around a bit. It looks a good pitch but you'd like a bit of swing. Being the first game in the competition we are targeting this one but every game is a two-point game."

West Indies skipper Jason Holder: "I would have liked to bowl as well but we'll have to put some runs on the board. Benny [Sulieman Benn] is struggling so we've brought in the extra seamer [Kemar Roach]."

Ireland have won the toss and chosen to bowl.

Captain William Porterfield says: "It looks a good pitch but we're hoping to utilise a bit of swing."

Windies captain Jason Holder says he would also have bowled, citing a tinge of green on the wicket. Could that be a big toss to win?

This may only be the first match of both sides World Cup campaigns, but there's plenty riding on this game.

It's always dangerous to get the tea leaves out this early in a tournament, but if this group plays out as expected, South Africa, India and Pakistan should have the top three spots under lock and key, meaning that there's likely to be just one quarter-final place for the other sides to scrap over. In short, this is close to a must-win game for Ireland and West Indies.

But this match also has plenty of symbolic importance - with the ICC having cut the number of sides at the next World Cup, matches like these provide a huge opportunity for Associate nations like Ireland to prove they belong on the world stage.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Day Three of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

We have just one match for you this evening, but what a mouthwatering proposition it is - Ireland take on West Indies in a match that could go a long way towards deciding who qualifies for the quarter-finals from Pool B.

The toss in Nelson, New Zealand is just ten minutes away.

Image source, Getty Images

Cameroon stunning Argentina at Italia 90. Argentina pooping France's party at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Bangladesh humbling India, external at the Cricket World Cup of the same year.

The competition may already be under way, but sometimes it feels like it takes a good old-fashioned upset to really spark the early stages of a World Cup tournament into life.

The first four matches of this Cricket World Cup wouldn't have batted a bookmaker's eyelid. But that could all change tonight. Ireland, replete with young talent and well used to troubling the big boys, take on a traditional powerhouse of the game at a moment of apparent disarray.

The men in green will still be underdogs. But on the day that the FA Cup provided yet another giant-killing, can they summon the spirit of Bradford and humble the mighty West Indies?