Collapse hands Ireland initiative and near-certain victory in ICC Cup

Scotland are staring at the prospect of Intercontinental Cup defeat to Ireland after another disappointing day in Dubai.

Having allowed the Irish tail to add 85 crucial runs on Wednesday, it was the batsmen’s turn to squander a promising start as the Scots conceded the first innings bonus points with a batting collapse.

Needing 252 to claim a morale-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 in which Scotland lost all ten wickets for just another 86 runs.

Munsey, having hit a fluent 38 with eight boundaries, was next to go, miscuing a pull shot off Kevin O’brien to be caught by Peter Chase.

The Scottish middle order, without 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 innings of 26no.

Ireland then pressed home their advantage with a much more solid batting display as they built an imposing lead of 296 runs.

Surrey star Gary Wilson led the way with a fluent 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.