The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Batting collapse as Scots squander good start
Scotland are staring at the prospect of Intercontinental Cup defeat to Ireland after another disappointing day at the Dubai International Stadium.
Having allowed the Irish tail to add 85 runs on Wednesday, it was the batsmen’s turn to squander a promising start as the Scots conceded the first-innings bonus points after a batting collapse.
Needing 252 to claim a moraleJames boosting lead, they were given a solid start by Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey who took the overnight tally from 37-0 to 55 before Coetzer was dismissed by Boyd Rankin.
The skipper’s departure sparked a rapid decline which saw Scotland lose all 10 wickets for just another 86 runs.
Munsey, having hit a fluent 38 with eight boundaries, was next to go, miscuing an attempted pull off Kevin O’Brien to be caught by Peter Chase.
The Scottish middle order, minus the experienced Richie Berrington who was being rested ahead of next week’s crunch World Cricket League clashes with Kenya, proceeded to cave in for a series of single figure scores.
Rankin cashed-in with four scalps and O’Brien three as Coetzer’s men slipped to 141 all out, a tally which would have been even lower without Safyaan Sharif’s defiant 73-ball 26no.
Ireland pressed home their advantage with a much more solid batting display as they built an imposing lead of 296.
Surrey star Gary Wilson led the way with 56 as the Scottish spinners toiled to make the major impact needed, Ireland closing on 186-5 and eyeing victory inside three of the scheduled four days when play resumes this morning.