ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

IRELAND v BERMUDA Bermuda made three changes from the team that was soundly beaten in The Netherlands. Out went Dwight Basden, Roderick Masters and Arthur Pitcher and in came Rodney Trott, Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly. The result was a side short on top-order batting and an attack comprising four very similar medium-fast bowlers supported, by off spin and slow left arm. A batting order was cobbled together with Jekon Edness as a make-shift opener and Lionel Cann, an aggressive middle-order player, promoted to number three. Such was the lack of confidence in the batsmen, however, that Irving Romaine invited Ireland to bat first after he had won the toss. Possibly he was also influenced by the heavy dew in the outfield which, under overcast skies, had caused the start of play to be delayed by an hour and which might have indicated bowling-friendly conditions for the seamers. In his second over, George O’Brien bowled Andrew White but rather than assistance from the pitch, it was just a poor shot, an attempt to pull a straight ball that kept rather low. That was the last Bermudan success for 50 overs as William Porterfield and Andre Botha scored boundaries all round the ground. After one hour of play, the score was 52 for one at lunch but, by three-quarters of the way through the afternoon session it had become 228 for one. Just as it looked as though Bermuda’s bowlers could neither stem the flow of runs nor make the breakthrough, Botha edged Kelly to Dwayne Leverock at first slip who took a spectacular tumbling catch, holding on at the third attempt. Botha had batted for just over three hours and reached his third consecutive first-class century; 65% of his runs came in boundaries. Niall O’Brien continued the onslaught either side of the tea interval whilst Porterfield was content to provide the anchor. The Irish total went passed 250 and on to 300 when Niall O’Brien attempted a sweep shot and was caught at short square-leg. Kevin O’Brien kept Porterfield company until the close, scoring at nearly three runs an over to consolidate the Irish position. Surprisingly Bermuda did not take the new ball. George O’Brien had left the field with an injury to his right hand but surely the other pace bowlers could have used it. The new ball was never taken even though Ireland continued their innings until just after 2.00 pm on the second day. The overnight partnership between Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien continued untroubled but, just after passing his half-century, Kevin O’Brien lofted a drive to extra cover, the partnership ending one short of the century. Porterfield fell soon after, a simple caught and bowled, after batting for six and three-quarter hours in an innings characterised by a wide range of strokes and admirable concentration. Still the onslaught continued as Trent Johnston scored 61 at a strike rate of 101.6, aided by contributions from Alex Cusack and Kyle McCallan. All three became victims of Leverock who was, by far, the best bowler, and well deserved his return of four wickets for 98 from 30.5 overs. Johnston eventually decided it was time for Bermuda to bat, declaring as soon as he was dismissed. When Bermuda began their reply, 58 overs remained to be bowled in the day. Edness fell in the fifth over to a low catch in the gully, whereupon Outerbridge and Cann, in their contrasting styles, added 64 runs. Cann struck both David Langford-Smith and Thinus Fourie for sixes. The stand was broken by leg spinner, Greg Thompson, Cann being too ambitious, hitting across the line of the ball, missing and falling leg-before. Apart from Outerbridge, none of Bermuda’s players had the application to bat for a long time; all got out playing injudicious strokes more suited to limited-overs cricket. Apart from Fourie, who suffered from Cann’s ebullience, and Kevin O’Brien, whose spell coincided with Romaine in full flow, it did not seem to matter who bowled for Ireland; the result was the same – wickets falling at regular intervals. Bermuda were still 344 runs behind at the close having lost eight wickets. It took only six overs to end Bermuda’s first innings on the third day and for the follow-on to be enforced. Bermuda’s second innings followed a similar pattern to their first. Edness fell to Langford-Smith and Outerbridge and Cann made an entertaining stand for the second wicket. Cann again fell leg-before, attempting to sweep Thompson. Outerbridge defended stoutly but found no one to stay with him, as Langford-Smith worked his way to a five-wicket haul through the top order. As they had done in previous matches, Leverock and Ryan Steede, now promoted to number nine, put up some resistance in a stand of 49 in 13 overs. Johnston kept switching his bowlers and in a spell from White, just before tea, Steede gave a catch to Langford-Smith at deepish short leg. At tea Bermuda were 186 for eight with Leverock 22 not out, the score on which he was stranded two overs after the resumption as White finished off the innings with his off spin. The match saw another professional performance from Ireland and another poor display by Bermuda. Among the impressive displays was McCallan’s match return of 22-16-25-1. William Porterfield was the Man of the Match. 128 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08