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Ireland Wolves, as expected, completed victory over Scotland A, but they were made to fight all the way by the resilient visitors.

Resuming on their overnight 39 for 2 chasing what appeared a notional 371 for the win, Michael Jones and Michael English defied the Irish attack as they almost batted through the entire morning session.
The pair shared a third wicket stand of 136 in 279 balls until Jones resistance was finally ended by the impressive Peter Chase just eight balls before the lunch break.

Jones top scored with 76 from 173 balls (8 fours) before he played on to Chase.

As so often happens in these situations, wickets then fell in clusters in the afternoon session as Scotland crumbled from 160 for 2 to 229 for 9.

Seamer Nathan Smith trapped English lbw for 67 from 166 balls (5 fours), and accounted for Riyaad Henry (16) in the same fashion.

Tyone Kane (2-19) and first-innings hero Jacob Mulder (2-57) also picked up two wickets apiece as the bowling unit worked their way through the Scottish middle and lower order.

Scott Cameron didn’t go down without a fight, clubbing 12 boundaries in a quick-fire 58 from just 46 balls, but it was perhaps fitting that the final dismissal went to Peter Chase.

The Malahide speedster dismissed his former club colleague Cameron Shoebridge to finish with the excellent analysis of 4 for 43 in the 100-run win.

Skipper Andrew Balbirnie was delighted by the all-round performance of the team, in which he felt their quick scoring particularly in the first innings was instrumental.

“It was a very satisfying win which was set up by the way we batted in the first innings. If you score at that rate you’re always going to be in control in three-day cricket.” said Balbirnie.

“Taking those five wickets in the late evening was a crucial phase of the game, and to polish them off and secure such a big advantage put us in the box seat in terms of controlling the match. Jack Tector then scored a super century at a brisk pace to keep us very much on top.

“It was a fantastic cricket wicket at YMCA and they batted well in the morning session to lose only one wicket to leave them only needing 200, so there was a bit of pressure on us.

“The bowlers responded well to the challenge. The spell by Nathan Smith from the top end was outstanding. He bowled to a plan and got his reward with two wickets. Peter Chase bowled a hostile spell and Tyrone Kane got wickets at crucial times. Jacob Mulder varied his pace superbly and got rewarded with seven wickets in the match.

” I thought it was an outstanding effort from our bowlers on a tough day of cricket, just what the Wolves needed. It was great to come out of the game with a win and hopefully we can learn from this and improve in our next match against MCCYC later this month.”

Wolves Head Coach Peter Johnston was satisfied with the result, being especially pleased at how the bowlers bounced back from last week’s game against Gloucestershire.

“I’m delighted with how the bowlers improved from last week’s tough encounter in Gloucester,” said Johnston. “It was almost the perfect performance winning 7 out of 8 sessions, yet we were slightly off this morning with the ball and credit to Scotland they fought back and put themselves right back in the game.

“However it was so pleasing that when put under that sort of pressure we responded with 7 wickets in the afternoon session to win the game, largely thanks to the efforts of Peter Chase, Nathan Smith and Tyrone Kane who bowled exceptionally well and with real discipline.”

“I thought Andrew Balbirnie captained the side very well on and off the field and it was great to have Ed Joyce’s experience. The guys are learning fast in this format of the game and the more we play the better we are getting.

“I’d like to pay tribute to YMCA and groundsman Dale McDonough who produced a perfect pitch for the three-day contest which had something in it for everyone, rewarding good cricket.”

Ireland Wolves v Scotland A, 3-day friendly

At YMCA CC, Claremont Road, Ireland Wolves beat Scotland A by 100 runs

Ireland Wolves 350 all out (78 overs; S Singh 71, E Joyce 65, T Kane 64, J Mulder 32, J Anderson 27, J Tector 25; M Watt 4-47, C Shoebridge 2-41, S Cameron 2-83) and 204-3 dec (42.4 overs; J Tector 107, A Balbirnie 77; M Watt 3-78)

Scotland A 184 (65.4 overs; M Watt 68, R Henry 32, C Wallace 22, M Rao 20; J Mulder 5-32, P Chase 3-38) and 270 all out (82.5 overs; M Jones 76, M English 67, S Cameron 59*; P Chase 4-43, T Kane 2-19, N Smith 2-57, J Mulder 2-66

Cricket Ireland
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Connaught