CRICKET/ICC Trophy: Ed Joyce moved Ireland another step closer to a place in the 2007 World Cup with his most valuable innings to date.
The 26-year-old Bray man batted from the 11th over until a pulsating end and on the way accumulated 115 of the classiest runs it is possible to score outside of first-class cricket. If Ireland beat the US in Waringstown today (10.45 start) they will book their place in the Caribbean.
Joyce must no longer be called a Test cricketer of the future. His time is now. With the 1,000-plus runs he has scored for Middlesex already this season, coupled with two centuries and a 40 in three innings for Ireland in this competition, the England selectors can ignore him no longer.
It wasn't just the nature of the shots he played in the face of quality bowling or his excellent running between the wickets that made this a great innings. It was also the pressure he was under as Ireland stumbled to 23-4, coupled with the strain of batting with the tail towards the end of the innings, still needing around six an over.
As Ireland trundled towards their target of 231 to win, they kept losing wickets at vital times and still needed five off the last over with just two wickets in hand. The Stormont crowd shifted nervously in their seats.
But never one to panic, Joyce and number 10 Paul Mooney - far from being a novice with the bat himself - exchanged a few singles and the job was done.
In reply to UAE's total of 230 all out, Ireland had got off to a horrific start, losing captain Jason Molins, Jeremy Bray, Andre Botha and Eoin Morgan with just 23 runs on the board.
Then a wonderful partnership between Joyce and Trent Johnston restored confidence in the Irish camp. At 23-4 it would have been reasonable for the batsmen to drop anchor and try to consolidate before relaunching an assault on the scoreboard. But Johnston, in particular, seems physically unable to bat slowly and his 50 came off just 48 balls. Not that it was rash, either.
When Johnston did fall he had put on 122 runs with Joyce and seemingly put Ireland into a winning position. But the wickets kept falling for Ireland. All the time, Joyce remained, seemingly impervious to the pressure building around him. He raised his bat for his second century in three innings, having faced 117 balls and hit eight fours. Not long after that, he was accepting the man-of-the-match award.
ICC Trophy
( At Stormont)
UAE
A Saeed c Bray b Mooney 0
A Ali run out 24
Asghar Ali c Botha b Mooney 17
K Khan c Molins b Botha 53
S Maqsood lbw Johnston 36
J Ismail b Botha 56
F Usman b Johnston 9
A Nadeem run out 0
M Tauqire not out 10
A Asad Abbas lbw Johnston 0
R Ahmed run out 0
Extras (13lb, 3nb, 9w) 25
---
Total (all out, 48.3 overs) 230
Fall: 5, 36, 93, 129, 178, 197, 197, 229, 230. Bowling: Johnston 9.3-0-45-3, Mooney 10-0-39-2, McCoubrey 8-0-36-0, McCallan 10-0-34-0, White 3-0-17-0, Botha 8-0-46-2.
IRELAND
J Molins lbw Abbas 4
J Bray c Khan b Abbas 2
A Botha run out 0
E Joyce not out 115
E Morgan c Asghar Ali b Abbas 4
T Johnston b Khan 67
P Gillespie run out 1
A White b Nadeem 11
K McCallan c Asghar Ali b Nadeem 10
P Mooney not out 3
Extras (5b, 4lb, 5w) 14
---
Total (for 8, 49.5 overs) 231
DNB: A McCoubrey. Fall: 6, 7, 12, 23, 145, 155, 190, 212. Bowling: Abbas 8.5-2-38-3, Ismail 8-1-25-0, Nadeem 10-0-60-2, Ahmed 4-0-19-0, Tauqir 9-0-47-0, Khan 10-1-29-1.
Ireland won by two wickets. Man of the match: Ed Joyce (Ireland).
