Ireland ease to seven-wicket win

Cricket365
September 8, 2013

Ireland made light work of their second World Cricket League ODI against Scotland in Belfast on Sunday, winning by seven wickets thanks to Niall O'Brien's unbeaten half century.

The hosts won with 102 balls remaining as they only needed 166 to win. Earlier on they had reduced the Scots to 165 all out, with Max Sorensen and Kevin O'Brien taking three wickets each.

The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first, looking to make up for the thrilling defeat they suffered on Friday at the same venue. Things went wrong from the get-go though, as Freddie Coleman was out for one in the fourth over.

He was trapped LBW by Sorensen with the score on 13, and wickets fell at regular intervals from that point on. Kevin O'Brien accounted for three of the top order, namely Matt Machan, Preston Mommsen and Richie Berrington.

This left Calum MacLeod to try and push the score towards 200, but he top-scored with 39 as Eddie Richardson bowled him in the 45th over. The final four wickets fell for just 20 runs as Sorensen and Stuart Thompson cleaned up the tail.

Ireland's chase got off to a poor start as openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling were dismissed cheaply, but they recovered quickly against the weaker opposition and Ed Joyce joined Niall O'Brien in rescuing the knock.

Once Joyce departed for 39, bowled by Majid Haq, O'Brien and Gary Wilson scored the rest of the runs at five to the over. The wicketkeeper-batsman ended the game on 65 not out, while Wilson made 35 not out.

Ireland: William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Gary Wilson, Kevin O'Brien, Eddie Richardson, Max Sorensen, George Dockrell, Andrew White, Stuart Thompson

Scotland: Hamish Gardiner, Fredrick Coleman, Matthew Machan, Preston Mommsen, Calum MacLeod, Richard Berrington, David Murphy, Majid Haq, Safyaan Sharif, Iain Wardlaw, Gordon Drummond