Scotland’s U19s face a nervous wait to find out if they have qualified for Saturday’s final of the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup Europe Qualifier after suffering their first defeat of the tournament against Ireland at Desert Springs today (Thursday).
The Scots lost by 95runs as they were bowled out for 44 in response to Ireland’s 139 all out.
Scotland Lead Coach Gordon Drummond said: ”Obviously it’s a disappointing result today. We bowled and fielded well for the first half but then we gave away a couple of opportunities at the end as they got to 139, although we always felt that was chaseable.
“The wicket’s been tough to bat on and to be fair to Ireland they bowled really well and kept a good intensity throughout the whole innings. It’s disappointing that we’ve let them back in. We now have to wait and see how tomorrow’s game between Jersey and the Netherlands goes. The lads are gutted, but fingers crossed the results go our way tomorrow and we get to the final on Saturday.”
Ireland won the toss and batted first and Scotland’s bowlers made steady progress through the order. Ollie Davidson again the standout performer for Scotland taking five wickets for 23 runs. Chasing 140 to win, Scotland had a difficult start as openers Sam Elstone and Gabriel Gallman-Findlay both went for ducks.
Tom Mackintosh reached 24 before falling to Matthew Humprheys, who picked up four wickets in the innings. But unfortunately the rest of the side could not pick up where he left off and were bowled out in the 23rd over.
The finalists will be confirmed following the match between Jersey and the Netherlands tomorrow (Friday) with run rate being used to separate teams level on points.
