Just 24 hours earlier, he had been preparing to play his latest match for little Farnsworth in the Bolton League, in north-west England, before he received the call to replace stricken Jesse Ryder in the Kiwis squad at the World Twenty.

"I didn't have time to think about it. Sometimes it's better to get pulled from the couch," said Redmond.

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"I had been playing in the Bolton League. There were a lot of 50-over matches which were rain-affected, so it was good practice for this shortened version of the game.

"We have plenty of good players. I just go out there and bat. It was important to get a good start and put runs on the board. But we all miss Jesse. He's a good man."

Big-hitting Ryder has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament because of a mystery infection.

Also missing from the New Zealand team on Thursday were skipper Daniel Vettori, who has a shoulder injury, and Ross Taylor with a hamstring strain.

Stand-in captain Brendan McCullum praised Redmond's pyrotechnics.

"He played out of his skin. He played with great confidence and he set the tone for what was to come," he said.

"We hope that the guys who were missing today will be back for the next game (against Pakistan at The Oval on Saturday).

"But even with the injuries it was good to see some of the guys who normally wouldn't get a game come in and do us proud."

Ireland captain William Porterfield, whose team suffered four run-outs as they were dismissed for 115 chasing the Kiwis' 198-5, believes his team can keep learning from playing against Test nations.

"They got away from us in the first period and it wasn't easy to claw it back," said Porterfield.

"The run-outs didn't help but the Kiwis fielded well and didn't make it easy for us.

"Our preparations were good. We are learning all the time. We'll take a lot out of this game and the rest of the tournament."

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