CRICKET: After the English Cricket Board (ECB) X1 won the first two matches, yesterday's third and final encounter at Malahide was a dead game. But there is some consolation to be taken from the fact that Ireland took the honours convincingly, winning by 52 runs, coincidentally the same as the ECB's margin of victory in the first game on Tuesday.
And, as had happened at Rathmines on Wednesday, Paul Gillespie and Kyle McCallan were Ireland's anchor-men, as Steve Foster won the toss for the ECB and obliged the home side to bat first. At Rathmines, the pair had put on 116 for the fifth wicket; yesterday, their joint contribution was a more modest 80, but they were valuable runs indeed, under-pinning Ireland's success.
Once again, Gillespie top-scored for Ireland, his 61 coming off 84 deliveries and including six boundaries. McCallan hit a lively 43 (coincidentally, the same as his knock at Rathmines) and hit one six and four fours off 50 balls.
Jeremy Bray and Conor Armstrong were an indifferent opening pair, but Niall O'Brien, Andre Botha and Andy White made useful contributions. Ralph Coetzee, the Belfast Harlequins all-rounder, was only at the wicket long enough to score an unbeaten single on his international debut, and the fact that two early rain stoppages reduced the overs to 48 each hardly helped his cause.
Elliott Wilson, the ECB opener, again bowled impressively, his pace and length earning him three wickets of his 10 overs, those of Armstrong, Gillespie and McCallan. Ajax Akhtar also took three, removing Bray, Botha and O'Brien, and the ECB were left to chase 213 for a win.
But once Paul Mooney had removed Steve Foster and Richard Howitt - aided by two fine catches by Armstrong and Bray - with only 39 runs scored, the ECB appeared to be well and truly up against it. And only for Quentin Hughes, Foster's opening partner, the end would have come earlier.
IRELAND
J Bray c Mole b Akhtar 18
C Armstrong lbw b Wilson 0
A Botha c Chapman b Akhtar 23
N O'Brien c Hughes b Akhtar 26
P Gillespie c Humble b Wilson 61
K McCallan b Wilson 43
A White not out 23
R Coetzee not out 1
Extras (LB10, W7) 17
Total for 6 wickets, 48 overs ... 212
Did not bat: P Mooney, J Mooney, G Neely.
Fall of wickets: 1/2; 2/38; 3/65; 4/92; 5/172; 6/211.
Bowling: E Wilson 10-1-30-3; M Sharp 10-2-35-0; A Akhtar 10-0-32-3; S Foster 1-0-4-0; C Brown 10-0-36-0; S Chapman 8-0-55-0.
ENGLISH CRICKET BOARD (ECB) X1
S Foster c Armstrong b P Mooney 12
Q Hughes c O'Brien b Botha 70
R Howitt c Bray b P Mooney 1
C Boroughs lbw b McCallan 10
S Chapman c Gillespie by J Mooney 11
C Mole lbw b Neely 12
M Sharp c Neely b Botha 4
S Humble st O'Brien b White 11
A Akhtar b Botha 7
C Brown c Bray b Botha 2
E Wilson not out 0
Extras (LB14, W5, NB1) 20
Total all out, 44.1 wickets ... 160
Fall of wickets: 1/26; 2/39; 3/77; 4/106; 5/126; 6/132; 7/147; 8/158; 9/160; 10/160.
Bowling: P Mooney 10-3-16-2; G Neely 8-0-20-1; K McCallan 9-1-33-1; R Coetzee 6-0-23-0; A Botha 6.1-0-23-4; J Mooney 2-0-17-1; A White 3-0-13-1.
Ireland won by 52 runs
UMPIRES: P White, J McCall.
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