Cricket C and G TrophyDespite the efforts of Eoin Morgan and Peter Gillespie, Ireland never really recovered from their poor start in the damp on Tuesday as Yorkshire completed a professional, if not emphatic, victory amid bright sunshine at Stormont yesterday.
It took them until the 48th over to do it, mind you, in part due to the tight bowling from the likes of Trent Johnston and Johan Botha, and in part due to cautious batting from the visitors.
England captain Michael Vaughan, for example, had the look of a man playing himself in after a long period away from the game. His last competitive knock was back on February 13th against South Africa in Centurion, and yesterday he was not the smooth-scoring batsman we have seen in the past, struggling early on in the face of a challenging opening spell from Adrian McCoubrey and Johnston. It was the 34th over before he passed 50.
Not that it mattered. They only needed four per over and Ian Harvey (57) and Phil Jaques (55 not out) made sure the result was never in doubt.
Spinners Botha and Kyle McCallan bowled well but without luck as Yorkshire moved inexorably towards the second round, where they will play the winner of Scotland and Worcestershire, who play today.
After being in serious trouble at 33 for 3 when the rain came on Tuesday, Ireland coach Adi Birrell said he would be aiming for a total around 200. At the time, it seemed ambitious, but they managed to get there with a six from Johan Botha off the last ball of the innings.
Morgan and Gillespie had rescued the situation for Ireland with an impressive 113-run partnership that was full of concentration, courage and the occasional fine strike in the face of good bowling, particularly from Craig White and Matthew Hoggard.
Gillespie got to 55 before being clean-bowled by White, and Morgan, who sits his Leaving Certificate next month, went the same way when he had reached 59. That innings won Morgan the man of the match award and it's no wonder that Middlesex have predicted big things for the 18-year-old.
Once those two departed the fear was of another collapse, but Johnston and then Botha and McCallan kept the momentum going until the end.
In truth, the damage had been done the day before when Ireland's top three batsmen were dismissed with just 24 runs on the board in conditions perfect for Yorkshire's seam bowlers. The period of consolidation after that meant that the home side fell badly behind the acceptable run rate, and even though they did well to get to their total of 201 off 50 overs, it was never going to trouble a side like Yorkshire.
Whenever Ireland have beaten the better sides, such as Zimbabwe, the openers have scored heavily. But it is good to note there are batsmen in the team who can manufacture a respectable total out of a potentially disastrous situation. That could get them out of a hole in the ICC Trophy come July.
Ireland
J Molins b Hoggard 7
J Bray lbw Bresnan 0
A Botha lbw Hoggard 10
E Morgan b White 59
P Gillespie b White 55
T Johnston c Jaques b White 24
D Joyce c Harvey b White 2
J Botha not out 18
K McCallan not out 10
Extras (2nb, 4w, 1b, 9lb) 16
TOTAL (for 7, 50 overs) ... 201
Fall of wickets: 1, 19, 24, 137, 160, 169, 172.
Bowling: Hoggard 10-0-28-2, Bresnan 9-2-25-1, Harvey 10-0-51-0, Dawson 7-1-27-0, Vaughan 2-0-6-0, White 10-1-43-4, McGrath 2-0-11-0.
Yorkshire
I Harvey c Gillespie b McCallan 57
M Vaughan c Bray b Cooke 58
P Jaques not out 55
M Lumb b Johnston 15
A McGrath run out 1
M Wood not out 6
Extras (7w, 3lb) 10
TOTAL (for 4, 47.4 overs) ... 202
Fall of wickets: 91, 156, 183, 190.
DNB: C White, I Dawood, R Dawson, T Bresnan, M Hoggard.
Bowling: McCoubrey 6-0-25-0, Johnston 10-2-36-1, A Botha 7.4-0-41-0, Cooke 5-0-31-1, J Botha 10-0-37-0, McCallan 9-0-29-1
Yorkshire won by 6 wickets.
