Published: Sep 10, 2014, 10:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 11, 2014, 04:01 PM (IST)
By Rajarshi Majumdar
Sep 10, 2014
Ireland defeated Scotland by three wickets and have won the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series with one game to spare, at the Village, Dublin on Wednesday. A brilliant innings from the Irish skipper Kevin O’Brien and contribution from the other batsmen helped their side to chase down a challenging target of 222 on this wicket where the ball was doing the talking.
Ireland got off to a quick start with both their openers timing the ball with precision. Within a span of three overs they lost their openers Andy Balbirnie and John Anderson. As a result, O’Brien came in to bat alongside Andrew Poynter. Poynter played the role of a supporter to his captain. O’Brien took on the Scotland bowling attack right from the start of his innings. He cruised to his 10th half-century in no time. Poynter was dismissed at the other end and then came Stuart Thompson who absolutely thwarted the Saltires. Thompson’s quickfire 39 propelled them to a commanding position. But tehy lost too many wickets after O’Brien got out. At a point, it looked like that this match might go down to the wire as they were reduced to 186 for seven all of a sudden. But John Mooney and Max Sorensen keot their calm and took their side over the line.
Earleir, a brilliant knock from Richie Berrington helped Scotland reach a challenging total of 221 runs.Ireland won the toss and opted to field in the second ODI. It was overcast right from the beginning and the start was delayed due to wet outfield. The Irish bowlers utilised the conditions well and they came hard upon the Scottish batsmen. Craig Young and Max Sorensen ran throught the top order in the first 12 overs of their innings. Scotland was reduced to 11 for three after the third over. The Scottish batsmen struggled right from the beginning as they were finding it difficult to deal with the movement that the Irish bowlers were generating off the deck. They could only manage to set a target of 222 runs in their 50 overs.
Berrington was their star batsman who played a gritty knock and went on to score his maiden century against Ireland. He came out to bat when Scotland were struggling at 11 for three. Since then he kept on scoring from one end but kept on losing partners at the other end. He added 84 runs in tandem with Josh Davey after Scotland’s half the side was sent back to the pavilion. Davey and Berrington steadies the innings and helped them reach a respectable, which could also turn out to be a challenging total in this pitch. Apart from Berrington and Davey, no one really could put up a good show with their bat.
Max Sorensen was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland. He troubled all the Saltires batsmen right from the start of the innings. He picked up four wickets and he gave away only 40 runs in his alotted overs. Craig young too joined the party as he picked up three wickets. Young now has eight wickets in two matches under his belt. The slow bowlers did not have much impact on any batsmen as things became a little easier for them through the middle overs.
Brief Scores:
Scotland 221 in 49.5 overs (Richie Berrington 101*, Josh Davey 40; Max Sorensen 4 for 40, Craig young 3 for 39) lost to Ireland 225 for 7 in 44.2 overs (Kevin O’Brien 67, Stuart Thompson 39; Josh Davey 2 for 44 , Alasdair Evans 2 for 34) by 3 wickets.
(Rajarshi Majumdar is a reporter at CricketCountry. He played cricket for all age levels under the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for over 12 years. Apart from cricket he is an avid follower of football, supports Manchester United and a foodie at heart.)
