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Ireland & Scotland in World Cup
ECC Office
Hosts Ireland confirmed first place in Group A after beating Denmark by 73 runs at Bangor. They then defeated Canada in the first semi-final on Saturday. The final ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying spot will be awarded to the team that finishes fifth in the ICC Trophy. Holland and UAE are still in contention and will play-off for this crucial spot on Monday. Bermuda and Ireland both qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time with victories over USA and Denmark on Saturday. The home side's victory over Denmark was built on a valuable 60-run contribution from star man Ed Joyce. The Middlesex batsman will return to his county side for a Championship match starting on Friday. But Ireland's next opponents will still have an in-form Joyce to contend with as younger brother Dominic overshadowed his more experienced sibling with a man-of-the-match winning 50 off only 37 balls. Ireland's total of 222 all out looked a sufficient target in challenging conditions at Bangor and it proved to be so as Denmark were bowled out for 149.
These circumstances made for a tense opening spell after Scotland were put into bat and when light rain disrupted play they were struggling at 138 for five. When play resumed, Scotland's middle-order all chipped in with valuable runs to lift the total to 221 all out. Scotland's seam attack found the damp conditions to their liking and made early inroads into the Dutch batting line-up. A series of batsmen made steady starts but only Ryan ten Doeschate was able to pass 20 as the wickets continued to fall. Holland crumbled to 123 all out with Ryan Watson the chief destroyer with four wickets. |
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Ireland, Scotland, Bermuda and Canada have qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies after finishing in the top two positions in their respective groups of the ICC Trophy Ireland 2005. European Development Manager Richard Holdsworth commented ‘This is a great day for European cricket. Scotland and Ireland both thoroughly deserve this, for all the efforts they have put in over the last two years. If Holland can defeat UAE in Clontarf on Monday this will give Europe three of the five places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, which will really show the strength and depth which the region has.’
Scotland went into its final group match against Holland as the only unbeaten side in Group B. Holland had to win the match to stand a chance of qualifying while Scotland would be through if they could come close to matching Holland's run rate.