Scotland see off Ireland by a run in final warm-up match

Scotland opted to bat at the Tolerance Oval on Tuesday, 15 October, and got off to a terrific start thanks to George Munsey. The opening stand was worth 78 runs, which came in seven overs, but his partner Kyle Coetzer contributed just a 16-ball 15 before falling to George Dockrell. Munsey himself was the next to fall, four overs later, but by that time he had taken the score to 119 in 10 overs.

The middle order couldn’t really capitalise on the foundation laid. Oli Haris hammered an 18-ball 39, but the most the other seven batsmen managed was a 12-ball 17 by Matthew Cross. That was still enough to push their total to a daunting 210/8, but Ireland made a proper fist of the chase.

Despite losing Kevin O’Brien for nought early on, Gareth Delaney and Andrew Balbirnie combined to take the chase forward. Balbirnie hung around, scoring a 48-ball 70, putting on mini partnerships with Harry Tector and Gary Wilson before falling with the total at 154. Then, Mark Adair took charge, scoring a 24-ball 45 to take Ireland to the brink of victory.

However, his dismissal in the penultimate ball by Safyaan Sharif turned the momentum Scotland’s way, and they just about survived.

Earlier in the day, at the ICC Academy Ground 2, African rivals Namibia and Nigeria started things off, with the Nigerians doing well early on to put on 55 for the opening wicket after opting to bat. Daniel Ayeku (16) and Adeleke Oyede (35) were watchful, but solid, and their partnership raised hopes of a competent total.

However, they encountered a slide, and as all of Christi Viljoen, Bernard Scholtz and Craig Williams claimed two wickets apiece, Nigeria were kept to 96/9. Namibia didn’t waste time in their chase, with Jean-Pierre Kotze and Nilko Davin putting on 47 for the opening wicket within five overs.

The two were dismissed in the next two overs, but the damage had been done, with Gerhard Erasmus scoring a 17-ball 32 to seal the victory.

At the Dubai International Stadium, there was a low-scoring encounter between Singapore and Jersey. Singapore were restricted to 112, with Julius Sumerauer taking 3/20, before Nick Greenwood’s 43-ball 46 helped power the chase.

Canada reigned over Kenya to ensure they won both their warm-up matches. They posted 191/8 after batting first at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, and then restricted Kenya to 165/8, with Jeremy Gordon returning 3/27.

Oman also made it two wins from as many warm-ups, seeing off the Netherlands by four wickets in Abu Dhabi after chasing down a 170-run target in 19.4 overs, thanks to opener Jatinder Singh’s 43-ball 64.

Under lights, Hong Kong held off Bermuda in Dubai, while in Abu Dhabi, hosts UAE got their second warm-up win against PNG.

An all-round Waqas Barkat, who backed up his 33 off 27 balls with 3/20 was the star for Hong Kong. Ahsan Abbasi (32) and Kinchit Shah (48 off 35) played useful hands in carrying the side to 160/5, before Shah's opening salvo and Barkat's strikes in the middle kept Bermuda to 136/8.

UAE overcame a measured start to post 50/2 in the Powerplay, and built from there. Nine sixes were struck in their 193/2, with Mohammad Usman accounting for two in his 38-ball 60 and Waheed Ahmed striking four in a cameo of 36* off 11 balls.

The PNG batsmen got starts, but with only Sese Bau reaching 40, they could go no further than 178/7, falling to a 15-run loss.