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A fantastic effort from the Irish bowlers restricted Scotland to 219 before half-centuries from Andy Balbirnie and Niall O’Brien guided Ireland to a 6 wicket victory in the Tri-Nation Series in Dubai
Ireland defeated Scotland by six wickets in Dubai as a disciplined bowling performance restricted Scotland to 219 before the batsman overcame the early loss of skipper William Porterfield to chase down the target with 91 balls remaining.
Winning the toss and electing to field, Ireland struck early through Barry McCarthy (2-42) who removed George Munsey. It was a smothering performance from the bowling unit as the all 5 pitched in with wickets and kept the run rate manageable.

Boyd Rankin who took 3-49 was happy with how they performed. “We stuck to our task pretty well and managed to pick up a few wickets early on. The spinners did very well in the middle period.”

This was certainly true as Andy McBrine took 1-33 and George Dockrell 1-39 off their 10 overs each.

“One or two said that was possibly a 300 run par pitch, so overall we were very pleased at the halfway point to hold them to 220 on that deck, I think it was very good,” continued Rankin at the close of play.

The chase could hardly have got off to a worse start with a wicket second ball but that brought Andy Balbirnie to the crease. He then set about compiling a half-century in just 42 balls that included nine fours and one maximum. It’s amazing what a “banana on toast and a glass of OJ” for breakfast can do.

When Balbirnie fell for 67, Paul Stirling, who had been starved of the strike a little, and Niall O’Brien continued in the same vein and played their shots. O’Brien would hit a 50 of his own scoring 55 off 52 balls with 5 boundaries and 2 sixes, including one to take him to his 50. Unfortunately for O’Brien he fell the very next ball.

That left the experienced duo of Ed Joyce, 31 not out, and Kevin O’Brien, 13 not out, to guide Ireland home with more than 15 overs to spare.

“In terms of the batting, obviously we lost Purty (Porterfield) early on but we got off to a really good start 60 odd for 1 after 10 overs,” said Rankin. “From there it was a matter of ticking over and maintaining the momentum to the end.”

Ireland play their final match of the Tri-Nation Series against Scotland on Thursday January 18th at 9.30am (5.30am Irish time) looking to make it four wins from four in 2018 under new Head Coach Graham Ford.

Ireland v Scotland, 3rd Tri-Series ODI, Dubai, January 16th, 2018

Ireland won by 6 wickets

3rd Tri-Series ODI

Scotland 219/10 (49.2/50 Overs) Jones 87, Wallace 34; Rankin 3-49, McCarthy 2-42, McBrine 1-33
Ireland 223/4 (34.5/50 Overs) Balbirnie 67, N O’Brien 55, Stirling 38; Sharif 2-44

Captains William Porterfield and Richie Berrington ahead of today’s ODI in Dubai c @cricketscotland
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