Ireland were left clutching at straws in Toronto yesterday after suffering a seven-wicket defeat by Scotland in the first of their Super League matches in the ICC Trophy. They now need to beat the UAE today to retain any hope of qualifying for the World Cup.
If Ireland win two of their last three matches it is still possible to squeeze into the third-place final, but on this evidence they don't have the firepower to do son in either batting of bowling.
A change of tactics saw Kyle McCallan bat first after winning the toss, but thoughts of posting a competitive score were fading by the time Peter Davy was out for 15 from 50 balls in the 17th over with his side 41 for 2.
The Joyce brothers briefly threatened in a stand of 46 for the third wicket in only seven overs, but when Dominick top-edged a return catch to James Brinkley, the innings stalled again.
A message came back from the middle suggesting 180 would be a decent score and the pitch certainly wasn't easy, with Ireland's best batsman Ed Joyce taking 70 deliveries to make 33 before running out of patience and his ground in the 41st over to be stumped off Gregor Maiden.
Skipper Kyle McCallan lifted the Irish supporters with a six over midwicket before chipping a catch back to Keith Sheridan and it needed a thumper's 19 from Derek Heasley and Matt Dwyer's oldest-swinger-in-town routine in the last two overs to haul the total up to 174-8.
The pitch looked far less bowler-friendly after the break, though, and a record second-wicket stand of 114 between Dougie Lockhart and wicketkeeper Colin Smith hurried the Scots towards victory with eight overs to spare.
