Ireland take command

CRICKET INTERCONTINENTAL CUP:IRELAND COACH Phil Simmons may be tempted to send a thank-you note to his Gloucestershire counterpart John Bracewell after William Porterfield's brilliant century put his side firmly on course for victory in their Intercontinental Cup clash with Scotland in Aberdeen.

Porterfield was surplus to requirement for the County Championship clash with Leicestershire, but the skipper’s batting over the first three days at Mannonfield has proved vital in setting up a win that looks inevitable when the final day’s play begins this morning.

Yesterday, the 24-year-old opener added 118 to his 77 in the first innings, a seventh international century that puts him alongside Jeremy Bray and Ivan Anderson at the top of the Ireland list. The fact he has scored almost 40 per cent of his side’s runs in this match sums up the value of his contribution.

It helped Ireland post 303 in their second dig, with Porterfield’s fifth-wicket stand of 115 with Andrew White (55) whittling away at Scotland’s confidence as they established a 297-run lead and gave themselves four sessions to bowl the hosts out.

They got half-way to that goal by the end of play as Scotland lost their top five batsmen in scoring 72 runs.

The good news for Ireland didn’t stop there, as two of those wickets went to Andre Botha, bowling for the first time at international level since last November’s I Cup final victory over Namibia in Port Elizabeth.

Kevin O’Brien took the new ball in the absence of Alex Cusack, who was rested after undergoing a scan on a back injury, and his fourth ball accounted for Fraser Watts when he darted one back in to trap him leg-before.

Botha’s impact was even quicker, as his second ball rapped Douglas Lockhart on the back pad to raise the umpire’s finger, while he would also account for first-innings centurion Qasim Sheikh for 17, caught behind by wicket-keeper Gary Wilson.

With the light fading, Porterfield introduced his spinners and Regan West picked up his eighth wicket of the game when he trapped Ewan Chalmers lbw, before the skipper got in on the act when he ran out Ryan Watson as Scotland finished the day on 72 for five, 226 runs away from an improbable victory.

Meanwhile, Nigel Jones’s unbeaten 80 wasn’t enough to prevent Ireland A from going down to 69-run defeat to the MCC at Lord’s.

Ireland’s seamers took a serious hammering as the hosts posted 306 for six off their 50 overs, while there was no way back after they were reduced to 72 for six.

Scoreboard

At Mannonfield, Aberdeen,

Day Three of four.

Overnight: Ireland 202(66.1 ovs) (W Porterfield 77, P Stirling 32, J Bray 28; M Haq 5-30, G Goudie 4-58) 102-3 (40 ovs) (W Porterfield 52no; M Haq 2-22), Scotland 208 (82.4 ovs) (Q Sheikh 100no, R Watson 29; R West 7-88, K McCallan 2-54).

IRELAND – Second Innings

W Porterfield b Goudie 118

J Bray c Watson b Haq 33

P Stirling b Haq 0 A Botha b Watson 9

K O’Brien b Haq 5

A White c Lockhart b Haq 55

G Wilson c Drummond b Evans 19

T Johnston c Berrington b Goudie 10

K McCallan c Lockhart b Goudie 18

R West c Watts b Goudie 19

A Cusack not out 6

Extras (lb1, nb8, w2) 11

Total (all out, 106.1 ovs) 303

Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-63, 3-86, 4-103, 5-218, 6-244, 7-255, 8-263, 9-296.

Bowling: G Goudie 18.1-2-59-4; A Evans 7-1-45-1; M Haq 41-9-88-4; G Drummond 16-4-38-0; R Watson 13-1-36-1; R Berrington 11-3-36-0.

SCOTLAND – Second Innings

F Watts lbw b O’Brien 1

D Lockhart lbw b Botha 9

Q Sheikh c Wilson b Botha 17

E Chalmers lbw b West 12

R Watson run out 5

N McCallum not out 14

R Berrington not out 14

Extras 0

Total (for 5 wkts, 31 ovs) 72

To bat: M Haq, G Drummond, G Goudie, A Evans.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-20, 3-37, 4-39, 5-50.

Bowling: T Johnston 8-2-18-0; K O’Brien 5-2-9-1; A Botha 6-2-16-2; R West 8-2-15-1; K McCallan 4-0-14-0.

• TOUR MATCH(At Lord's): MCC 308-6 (50 ovs) (D Ward 91, S Selwood 77; E Richardson 2-41), Ireland 'A' 239 (44.1 ovs) (N Jones 80no, G Kidd 32, J Hall 27, P Connell 20; W Morrick 4-54, M Bracewell 3-25, J Stevenson 2-39). MCC won by 69 runs.