AKIPRESS.COM - India beat Ireland by eight wickets at the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday, remaining unbeaten after five matches to clinch its place atop Pool B while stalling Ireland’s celebrated push for a place in the tournament quarterfinals.

Shikhar Dhawan scored 100 and Rohit Sharma hit 64 in a 174-run opening partnership — its best at a World Cup — as India chased down Ireland’s 259 with 13.1 overs remaining, according to media reports.

India will stay at atop the pool regardless of the outcome of its last group match against Zimbabwe. Ireland must now take at least one point from the last match of the pool round against Pakistan at Adelaide on Sunday to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

India achieved its win with the kind of efficiency which has marked its progress through the tournament. After William Porterfield made 67 and Niall O’Brien 75 from 75 balls to give Ireland hope of a competitive total, India took seven wickets for 53 runs.

Faced with an early assault on his seam attack by openers Porterfield and Paul Stirling, who took 57 runs from the first nine overs, India captain M.S. Dhoni introduced spin while maintaining attacking fields and clamped down heavily on the run rate.

Spinners bowled the next 22 overs, Ireland went from 57-0 after nine overs to 144-2 after 31, and the momentum of the game changed in India’s favor.