Ireland sit two points clear at the top of Pepsi ICC Europe U19 Division 1 on the tournament rest day after beating Jersey by four wickets to make it four wins from four at the tournament.
Bowling first Ireland were pegged back by openers William Robertson (23) and Grant Donaldson (23) who led Jersey to 53-0 before Tom Stanton (4-37) and Ben White (3-30) ripped through the Jersey batting line-up to restrict them to 113 all out in just 26.5 overs.
On a wicket that proved difficult to bat on, Ireland were patient in pursuit of the total and despite another strong bowling performance from Jersey, captain Jack Tector led his team over the line with more than twelve overs remaining.
Although the scorecard seemed to show a comfortable win for Ireland, those in attendance saw a tense affair dominated by the bowlers which was in fact far closer than it appeared.
“The wicket got drier when we went out to bat, as a result it was quite difficult to score and rotate the strike. The Jersey boys bowled to their strengths and we lost a few wickets due to the pressure” said Tector of the match.
“I told myself that if I did not get out we would win the game and it was a case of not panicking even if I faced a few dots.
“You had to be really patient and wait for the really full or really short ball to score runs, we kept our patience and it got us across the line.”
Tector led by example scoring 31 not out from 100 balls to personify the patience required to get over the line. He was supported by Lorcan Tucker (17) and Aaron Gillespie (16) as Ireland reached the target of 114 in the 38th over with four wickets remaining.
Ireland will be back in action again on Friday when they face winless Netherlands for the second time, before a final match against Scotland which is likely to decide the winner of the tournament after Scotland defeated the Netherlands to stay just two points behind Ireland.
Jack Tector made 31 not out in the low scoring affair
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