Cricket/Inter-Continental Cup: In the end, this almost became exciting. Needing to get the United Arab Emirates all out before the close of play to register an outright but unnecessary victory, Ireland got to within two wickets of doing that in the face of some stubborn batting by the Emirates.
But for most of the final day of this Inter-Continental Cup semi-final it was far from thrilling as Ireland knew that, according to the complex points system, they had an unassailable lead and would be going through to play Kenya in the final even if they managed only a draw.
Earlier in the day, most of the talk among the Irish supporters at the pleasant Wanderers Sports Club on the outskirts of Windhoek was about the individual scoring record belonging to Ivan Anderson.
In 1973, the Waringstown legend hit 198 not out against a Canadian XI in Toronto and, unbeaten on 169 overnight, few were betting against Jeremy Bray to surpass him. But having made it to 190, Bray was trapped lbw, just 10 short of becoming the first Ireland player to make a double hundred.
He looked somewhat downcast as he trudged back to the pavilion although getting out in the 190s is a disappointment most batsmen are prepared to live with.
Then it was Niall O'Brien's chance. On 118 not out at the start of play, he got up to 176, but then tried to reverse sweep Samir Zia and was clean bowled.
But it was a magnificent and all-time highest Ireland partnership of 306 between the two left-handers. The concentration, shot execution and refusal to show the UAE bowlers any mercy was very impressive. For the record, with his first innings knock of 78, Bray made a total of 268 runs in the match, easily the most by an Irishman and Ireland's total of 444 for 4 declared is the country's biggest first-class total.
Captain Trent Johnston sensibly kept his batsmen out in the middle for longer than was strictly necessary, only declaring when he was 606 runs ahead, an impossible target for his opponents.
This decision saved the legs and arms of his bowlers and fielders ahead of the final which starts tomorrow, but it almost certainly cost him an outright victory on his debut as captain.
That said, Ireland nearly won anyway. With just over two sessions to bowl out the opposition, Paul Mooney struck in his first over as Mohammed Taskeen was caught behind for no score. Worryingly, in that same over, Mooney aggravated a back injury and was forced to leave the field. He is now classed as doubtful for the final.
Ireland's other bowlers stuck to their task well during the day although it was not easy for them on a batting paradise. Kyle McCallan (3-32 off 22 overs) and Johnston (2-68 off 19) were the pick of Ireland's attack.
UAE survived to draw the match but they gained little else.
In truth, the Emirates have been very disappointing here. Missing seven of the team that played Ireland in the ICC Trophy in July, they did not have the quality to trouble the Irish batsmen with the ball on what was a very good track for batting.
While their batsmen showed a greater resistance in the second innings, it was clear that Ireland were the better team in all departments.
Kenya will prove a more difficult nut to crack in the final. Afterwards, Irish coach Adrian Birrell said he was "very happy" with his team's performance, clearly not bothered that they had failed to win outright. "The guys have done exactly what I wanted them to do. Having won the toss we had to put the runs on the board in the first innings. We certainly did that. Our objective was to get into the final and that is what we have done," he said.
Scoreboard
INTER-CONTINENTAL CUP (semi-final)
At Wanderers Sports Club, Windhoek
Day three
Overnight: Ireland (First innings) 350 for 7 dec (E Morgan 151, J Bray 78, D Joyce 38, T Johnston 30; Ali Asad 5-93); UAE (First innings) 189 all out (M Taskeen 47; Rameez Shahzad 41; T Johnston 5-33, K McCallan 2-23, P Mooney 2-36). Ireland (Second innings) 306 for 1 (J Bray 169 not out, N O'Brien 118 not out).
IRELAND (Second innings contd):
D Joyce c Rizwan b Al-Hashimi 38
J Bray lbw Sockalingam 190
E Morgan lbw Sockalingam 10
N O'Brien b Samir 176
P Gillespie not out 18
Extras (2w, 6lb, 4b) 12
Total (for 4, 104.1 overs) 444
Fall: 37, 341, 394, 444.
DNB: T Johnston, C Armstrong, K McCallan, P Mooney, G Thompson, A McCoubrey.
Bowling: Ali Asad 16-1-75-1, Al-Hashimi 8-1-50-1, Sockalingam 4-0-16-1, Rameez 8-1-33-0, Rizwan 24-1-93-0, Samir 20.1-0-72-1, Usman 7-1-36-0, Kashif 11-1-32-0, Arshad 5-0-22-0, Fahad 1-0-5-0.
UAE (Second innings)
Arshad Ali c Johnston b Thompson 59
M Taskeen c O'Brien b Mooney 0
Usman Saleem lbw McCallan 68
V Sockalingam c Gillespie b McCallan 0
Kashif Ahmed run out 1
Rameez Shahzad c O'Brien b McCallan 30
Fahad Usman c O'Brien b Johnston 25
Samir Zia not out 12
Rizwan Ahmed c Gillespie b Johnston 0
Ali Asad not out 4
Extras (4b, 3lb, 20nb, 1w) 28
Total (for 8, 79 overs) 227
Fall: 4, 102, 102, 118, 177, 182, 214, 220
Bowling: Johnston 19-3-68-2, Mooney 1-0-1-1, McCoubrey 12-2-34-0, Armstrong 6-2-23-0, Gillespie 3-0-17-0, Thompson 12-5-33-1, McCallan 22-11-32-3, Bray 1-0-2-0, Joyce 3-1-5-0.Match drawn (Ireland progress to final with more bonus points).
At United Sports Club, Windhoek: Kenya (First innings) 403 for 6 declared, 89.5 overs (S Tikolo 220, H Modi 98 not out, K Obuya 34); Bermuda (First innings) 346 for 9 (C Smith 126; T Odoyo 3-22). Kenya (second innings) 282 for 4 (T Suji 103, T Odoyo 74; R Steedie 2-32). Match drawn (Kenya progress to final with more bonus points).
