Australia's Matthew Hayden in training in Bridgetown, yesterday. - Reuters

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):

WITH A semi-final berth to secure and a 23-game unbeaten Cricket World Cup streak to maintain, Australia have no reason to take it easy against last place Ireland in the Super Eights today.

"We're in the Super Eights now, it's not a warm-up match," said fast bowler Shaun Tait. "We've got to play in our best form.

"If we relax in any of these games and then come up against a big side, we might get done by them. We've just got to concentrate on what we are doing at the moment," he said.

Defending champions Australia will be out to assert the supremacy that has brought them to the verge of the semi-finals without being seriously stretched in any of their six outings during the ongoing tournament.

Swamping all their opponents in the current tournament, Australia have already extended their unbeaten World Cup streak to 23 matches that stretches back to the 1999 World Cup where a tied semi-final against South Africa was the closest any team came to stopping the Aussies.

Emerging from five successive one-day defeats in the run-up to the World Cup, Australia are again looking awesome after recovering from a five-match losing spree ahead of the premier limited-overs tournament.

Victory expected

Another Australian victory is expected today, given Ireland's limited ability that has left the World Cup debutants from the Emerald Isle as the only ones without a victory in the Super Eights.

Despite the huge gap between the two teams, Australia are not taking the game lightly.

"We're taking this match as seriously as against any other side," said Tait, whose three-wicket burst secured him the man of the match award on Sunday against England.

Winner of the last two World Cups in 1999 and 2003, Australia are seeking to become the first team to complete a hat-trick of title triumphs.

Ricky Ponting's Australians last two matches will be against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

"New Zealand and Sri Lanka are the teams playing quality cricket, we expect them to be a quality threat," Tait said.

Ireland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by knocking out former world champions Pakistan from the preliminary round.

The Super Eights qualification in their first World Cup appearance has been the high point of Ireland's cricket history. The Irish cricketers produced stubborn competition against fancied South Africa, England and New Zealand, but stumbled owing to their inexperience.

Make a further mark

Ireland's captain Trent Johnston said his team still had three matches left to make a further mark.

Line-ups:

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath, Brad Hodge, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Stuart Clark.

Ireland: Trent Johnston (captain), Jeremy Bray, William Porterfield, Eoin Morgan, Niall O'Brien, Andre Botha, Kevin O'Brien, Andrew White, Kyle McCallan, Dave Langford-Smith, Boyd Rankin, Kenneth Carroll, Peter Gillespie, John Mooney, Paul Mooney.