Langford-Smith haul gives Ireland good start

Cricket: A five-wicket haul from opening bowler David Langford-Smith gave Ireland a good start on day one of their ICC InterContinental Cup match against Scotland at Aberdeen.

The Phoenix fast bowler bowled a fiery couple of spells, ending the Scottish innings with his best figures for Ireland, 5-65 off 20 overs.

Having won the toss and deciding to stick the Scots into bat, captain Trent Johnston was the first to make the breakthrough. He obviously fancied a bowl on the Mannofield pitch and it wasn't long before he had justified that decision, sending Fraser Watts back to the pavilion for a duck, caught by wicket-keeper Niall O'Brien with just three runs on the board.

But it wasn't long before Langford-Smith took over the wicket-taking role. He got rid of Neil MacRae, Gavin Hamilton and Dougie Brown to leave the Scots in big trouble on 58 for 4. But as he has done plenty of times before, Ryan Watson dug deep for Scotland and launched a fight-back before lunch.

The Zimbabwean-born all-rounder got his side to 124 in an attacking knock that included 16 boundaries in his 74. He was finally caught when he mistimed a hook shot off Johnston and was spectacularly caught by Langford-Smith at long leg.

Scotland then suffered their second collapse of the day, being reduced to 161 for 7 before the tail wagged to frustrate the Irish bowlers. John Blain made 53 batting at nine and he was ably supported by his skipper Craig White (28) and number 11 Ross Lyons who remained unbeaten on 16 when Blain was finally dismissed with the score on 265.

In reply, Ireland lost Jeremy Bray early on but they managed to see out the rest of the day without further incident, William Porterfield and Andre Botha the not out batsmen. They got Ireland to 47 for 1 off 14 overs before stumps, giving them a good chance to register an innings lead when play resumes this morning. Ireland are the defending champions of this competition and although they are in a strong position, they will recall this corresponding fixture last season when demons in the Mannofield pitch meant no team was able to register a decent total. So Scotland will feel that if they get a couple of early wickets this morning, victory could be there for the taking.

Meanwhile, over in Ayr Ireland A were taking on their Scottish counterparts in a three-day game and struggled to cope with what is a strong Scottish second string. Ian Stanger was unbeaten on 75 when the rains came and the Scots will resume this morning for day two on 185 for 3.