Ireland beat Scotland in the second ODI here at Malahide today by three wickets with over five overs to spare and win the series.
The final margin of victory makes the match look much closer on paper than it was in reality. It was only some casual cricket by Ireland batsmen when they were cruising to victory on 157 for 3 with 20 overs still left that brought a measure of excitement to Ireland’s chase of 222. Kevin O’Brien yet again looked a class apart from anyone else on display and his assured 67 from 65 deliveries with 9 fours set Ireland up for what should have been a stress free win. If it had not been for a fine maiden ODI century by Richie Berrington for Scotland it would have been one of the least competitive matches seen here for some time.
O’Brien was again aided and abetted by Stuart Thompson who made a fluent 39 from 36 balls which contained 4 fours and a soaring six. It was unfortunate that he fell playing an unnecessary sweep shot rather than ensuring his side got home without any undue alarms. In the end it required a 39 run stand by John Mooney (27*) and Max Sorensen (14*) to get Ireland over the line and thus end Scotland’s hopes of squaring the series.
Ali Evans with 2 for 34 and Josh Davey 2 for 44 were the best of the Scotland bowlers but again the lack of support particularly from their top spinner Majid Haq, meant that they were unable to prise the victory from Ireland’s grasp.
Earlier Ireland won the toss and given the success of their strategy on Monday inserted Scotland again. On another glorious Indian summer day in Malahide the Ireland opening attack had the Scots on the rocks from the outset. A wicket fell in each of the first three overs, two for Max Sorensen and one for Monday’s hero Craig Young.
Matt Cross was the first to fall, LBW to Sorensen from the third ball of the match, and in the next over Young demolished Callum MacLeod’s stumps with a fat full delivery. Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen didn’t last long and became Sorensen’s second victim when he chopped onto his stumps with only thirteen balls bowled in the innings.
At that point it looked as if the visitor’s poor batting performance on Monday would actually look good compared to today especially when Sorensen captured a further two wickets by the time the score had got to 48. It could have been even worse had John Mooney held onto a sharp slip catch off a searing edge offered by Richie Berrington from a rapid Young delivery. Berrington was on 9 and his dismissal then would surely have had the decent size crowd departing for home by early afternoon.
However he made the most of his escape and went on to an accomplished hundred from 125 balls which included 8 fours and a six. He comfortably surpassed his previous best ODI score of 84. There were just two significant partnerships in the entire innings and unsurprisingly Berrington was instrumental in both of them. He added 84 for the sixth wicket with Josh Davey who made 40 off 69 balls with 4 fours and then a further 48 for the ninth wicket in the company of Ali Evans who made 22.
Sorensen (4-40) and Young (3-39) were the standout bowlers for Ireland and in the formers case it was a welcome return to form following a lack lustre season. Young again bowled with pace and control and may well have moved himself into pole position to be Tim Murtagh’s opening partner when the World Cup matches take centre stage.
Kevin O’Brien and John Mooney both chipped in with a wicket apiece as Scotland, Berrington and Davey apart, again fell well short of the standard required batting at this level.
Ireland therefor win the series with a game to spare and will be determined to complete a clean sweep when the final match takes place on Friday at 10.15am.
SCOTLAND 221 ALL OUT (49.5 Overs, R Berrington 101*, J Davey 40, M Sorensen 4-40, C Young 3-39)
IRELAND 225 FOR 7 (44.2 Overs, K O’Brien 67, S Thompson 39, J Mooney 27*, A Evans 2-34, J Davey 2-44)
IRELAND WON BY 3 WICKETS.
