Ireland vs Scotland, 2nd T20I at Bready, Preview: Scotland look to seal series

Ireland will be low on confidence after getting beaten comprehensively in the first game.

Following an impressive six-wicket win over hosts, Ireland, in the firstfirst T20I at Bready on Thursday, Scotland would look to seal the series with a consecutive win in the second match on Friday. Both Scotland and Ireland had made an appearance in the 2015 ICC cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where Scotland had a dreadful outing, losing their all six matches in the group stage. On the other hand, Ireland won their three of the six matches in the group stage against the West Indies, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Zimbabwe.

Prior to the start of the series, it was expected that Ireland would be the clear favourites, however, the tables were turned in the first T20I when Scotland snatched a thrilling six-wicket win. Although Ireland are still expected to bounce back and win the remaining  games, it still remains to be seen how things would turn out to be as Scotland would be eager to seal the series in the second game itself.

Considering the match on Thursday, the top order failed to contribute much, with opener, Stuart Poynter, John Anderson and Andrew Poynter failing to reach double figures. David Rankin and skipper, Kevin O’Brien were the top scorers with 34 and 30 respectively. Scotland, on the other hand, played really well with most of the players contributing. It was mostly due to the healthy knock of 60 from Matthew Cross that did did the job for his side. LIVE SCORECARD: Ireland vs Scotland 2nd T201, Bready

While in the bowling, Safyaan Sharif and Michael Leask of Scotland were successful in claiming a couple of wickets for 31 and 23, respectively, and for Ireland, it was Tyrone Kane, who claimed 3 for 27 in 3.1 overs, but was not enough to restrict the Scots.

With the pitch of Bready being a low-scoring one and providing the swing for the fast bowlers, it is expected to stay low again and another low-scoring encounter is on the cards, with the teams, especially Ireland, making a couple of changes in the top order. Both the teams are expected to field a strong bowling squad.

The result is once again unpredictable and Ireland would be expected to do better, since they are playing at home. However, with Scotland off to a flying start, they would definitely look to continue the momentum and seal the series.

Squads:

Ireland: Kevin O’Brien(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Tyrone Kane, Andy McBrine, Graeme McCarter, John Mooney, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter (wk), Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.

Scotland: Preston Mommsen (c), Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Freddie Coleman, Josh Davey, Con de Lange (wk), Alasdair Evans, Michael Leask, Gavin Main, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt.

Time: 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 22:00 IST

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)

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