ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

SCOTLAND v IRELAND Scotland surprisingly asked Ireland to bat first. Conditions were cold but the prediction was that the pitch would take spin and therefore it seemed strange to risk batting last. The decision looked even more dubious when Jeremy Bray and William Porterfield put on 51 for the first wicket and, after Bray was out, Paul Stirling helped take the score to 117. Stirling hit six fours in his 32 runs but, possibly experiencing over-confidence, pulled a ball from Richard Berrington into the hands of long leg. Thereafter everything went wrong for Ireland. The introduction of the off spinner, Majid Haq, brought immediate results as Alex Cusack and Andre Botha were both trapped leg-before. There was doubt about both as Cusack appeared to have inside-edged the ball into his pads and Botha was well forward, though not offering any shot. Porterfield continued to play well, displaying a wide range of strokes, and it was a surprise when, after the mid-afternoon drinks break, he fell to a low catch by Richie Berrington at backward point. Berrington was outstanding in the field, later picking up two more excellent catches. Having accounted for Porterfield, Gordon Goudie quickly removed Kevin O’Brien and Andrew White. Haq returned to finish off the innings but there was more controversy before this happened. He gained his third leg-before even though Kyle McCallan was hit well up on the thigh pad and with this, the ninth wicket to fall, the umpires took the players off for tea which was contrary to the Laws of Cricket. Ireland obtained the first two Scottish wickets cheaply but Qasim Sheikh and Ryan Watson were looking well-established by the close. Regan West, Ireland’s leading spinner, seemed unable to get the same assistance as Haq, either from the pitch or the umpires. Scotland had the better of the morning on the second day. Sheikh and Watson took the partnership to 75 before West beat Watson with a quicker ball, which took out his off stump. McCallum was the only other wicket to fall before lunch, which Scotland reached at 149 for four. By mid afternoon, Scotland were comfortably placed at 170 for four when, suddenly, the innings fell apart to the spin of West and McCallan. Only Sheikh seemed able to deal with the conditions as five wickets went down for 29 runs. At 199 for nine, it looked as though Ireland might get first-innings lead but Ally Evans managed to stay long enough to enable Sheikh to reach his century and secure the lead for Scotland. Sheikh contributed 48% of his team’s runs and remained undefeated after batting for over four hours and a half. West bowled well in the afternoon session and was rewarded with a return of seven for 88, despite being unsuccessful with all his leg-before appeals. However, the visitors were now handicapped by an injury to Cusack who was forced off the field with a back spasm and seemed unlikely to take any further part in the match. Porterfield and Bray again gave a good start but, after Bray edged Haq to slip, two more wickets fell quickly, to leave Ireland on 102 for three at the close. Ireland lost O’Brien very quickly, bowled by Haq, but thereafter they had much the better of the third day. Porterfield and White added 115 for the fifth wicket at a slowish strike rate of 40.2, but it laid the foundation for Ireland to take charge of the match. They batted through the morning and, just after lunch, Porterfield reached his hundred and White his half-century. By the time White edged a ball from Haq down the leg side to the wicketkeeper, Ireland were in the position where the lower order could go for quick runs and a possible declaration. The latter never came, but the last five wickets put on 85 runs at a strike rate of 81.7 so that, by the time Ireland were dismissed just before tea, the score had climbed to 303 and the lead to 297. Haq, getting through 41 overs, obtained four wickets to give him match figures of nine for 118 and Goudie, on a pitch not suited to pace bowling, had a laudable match return of eight for 119. Scotland found it hard work batting last with the pitch getting slower. Runs were difficult to score and no batsman could settle as Ireland took five wickets for 72 runs by the close, Botha obtaining two of them with his miserly medium pace. Watson was run out by a direct hit from Porterfield but was clearly unhappy about the umpire’s decision. With Scotland 225 runs behind and only five wickets left, an Irish victory looked certain on the last day. In the end, Ireland were thwarted not by any resistance from Scotland but by just over 9 mm of overnight rain. An early lunch was taken but whilst the umpires were making an inspection with a view to setting a time for play to begin, there was another torrential downpour. At 2.45 pm the match was abandoned. The failure of Ireland to achieve 14 points for victory, having already failed to get the first-innings points, meant that they were virtually out of contention for a place in this tournament’s final. They would need to win all their remaining fixtures and hope that other results would go in their favour. 188 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10