Cricket European Championship: After beating Holland on Monday, Ireland continued their good form at Deventer yesterday.
Their second win over Scotland in 11 years puts them level on points with the ECB at the top of the table, with England having a game in hand.
Ireland restricted Scotland, their bogey team of recent years, to 200 off 50 overs. Their top order responded strongly though some of the Scottish entourage claimed 201 would be beyond Jason Molins and his team.
Did they not hear how Ireland chased 292 to humble the West Indies this season? Or how they scored 264 to beat Surrey in the C&G Trophy? Scotland needed something special to stop them.
Scotland bowled well but Ireland coasted home with five wickets and three overs to spare. There were two key partnerships, 81 for the first wicket between Molins and Jeremy Bray, and 87 for the fourth between Peter Gillespie and Andy White.
Molins and Bray hit 17 boundaries between them before Bray was caught behind Ryan Watson's bowling. Molins followed, playing on to Greg Williamson, and when Andre Botha holed out to midwicket for six, the Irish became concerned.
Good performances from White and Gillespie prevented a comeback amid light drizzle. By the time they were out, the sun was shining and Ireland needed just seven runs.
Earlier, apart from Watson, Scotland's batting was less impressive. Watson amassed 88 but hit true form only when Scotland's chance of a big total had passed.
Bruce Patterson was run out for 40 going for a quick single. A fine pick-up and throw from Naseer Shoukat at fine leg ended Colin Smith as the wicket-keeper/batsman tried to sneak a second run.
Gregor Maiden took 14 overs to make 13 runs before trying to pull a short one from Gordan Cooke that stayed low, hitting the middle stump.
Patterson and Watson were then frustrated by some tight bowling, particularly from Cooke and Paul Mooney. The Irish spinners, Kyle McCallan and White, also bowled well. White took three wickets while McCallan was left with only the knowledge that he had given away fewer than three and a half runs per over.
Today, Ireland's last game in the tournament is against Denmark in Utrecht, while the unbeaten ECB take on the hosts Holland in Rotterdam. A win for Ireland would mean that because they lost on a bowl-out to the ECB, they would depend on England losing one of their two remaining games to take the title.
