FORMER Gloucestershire star William Porterfield led Ireland to a shock Cricket World Cup victory over the West Indies this morning and said it now puts his country in 'a great position'.

Captain Porterfield's team won their opening Pool B match by four wickets, chasing down their opponents' score of 304-7 with 25 balls to spare.

Paul Stirling (92), Ed Joyce (84) and Niall O'Brien (79no) impressed with the bat to put Porterfield in buoyant mood.

Porterfield, who played for Gloucestershire between 2008 and 2010, said: "It's fantastic. The way we went about chasing down those runs was great. It sets us up for the next three games. It's a great position to be in.

"We firmly believe what we are capable of. We've just got to continue this throughout the tournament.

"They obviously had a strong finish but 300 was about a par score. We knew it was a good pitch and a quick outfield.

"The belief is that we can qualify from the group stage."

Next for Ireland is a match against United Arab Emirates in Brisbane on February 25.