Balbirnie's double-ton, Rankin's five-for lift Ireland to top

Ireland 477 for 6 dec (Balbirnie 205*, Anderson 74, Snater 5-116) and 240 for 7 dec (Porterfield 108, Kevin O'Brien 58, Barresi 3-42, Gunning 2-63) drew with Netherlands 375 (O'Dowd 105, Cooper 82, Rankin 5-49) and 186 for 4 (Myburgh 85, Cooper 37*, Simi Singh 2-19)
Scorecard

Andy Balbirnie's unbeaten double century - his first three-figure score in first-class cricket - and Boyd Rankin's five-wicket haul gave Ireland a 102-run first-innings lead, and, as a result, extra points, in their drawn Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands in Malahide. The nine points Ireland took from this game helped them move past Afghanistan to first place on the points table, while Netherlands remained at no. 3.

Balbirnie's 205 not out, after Netherlands captain Peter Borren decided to give Ireland first use of the surface, headlined a strong batting performance from Ireland's top-order that enabled them to amass 477 for 6. Balbirnie consolidated on a solid start given by the Ireland openers, Ed Joyce and William Porterfield, who put on 75. The stand ended with Joyce's dismissal for 43, but Porterfield raised a half-century and added 67 for the second wicket with Balbirnie.

The double-centurion was ably supported by John Anderson, who made 74 and added 183 with him for the third wicket - the best partnership of the innings - and wicketkeeper Gary Wilson, who chipped in with 39. Wilson's dismissal triggered a brief slide where Ireland lost three wickets for 16 runs, but Jacob Mulder arrested the slide by adding an unbeaten 60 runs with Balbirnie for the seventh wicket before Porterfield called his batsmen back in. Netherlands' new-ball bowler Shane Snater took five wickets - his first in first-class cricket, in his second match.

Rankin's effort then limited Netherlands to 375, despite a late surge from Max O'Dowd (106) and Logan van Beek, who put on 160 for the seventh wicket to lift Netherlands from 149 for 6, after Ben Cooper's fighting half-century. O'Dowd and van Beek then repaired the damage and took the score past 300, with O'Dowd scoring his maiden first-class century. O'Dowd and van Beek were dismissed by Rankin, who ended with 5 for 49.

Balbirnie again played a vital hand in the Ireland second innings, his 113-run second-wicket stand with his captain Porterfield offsetting the early loss of Ed Joyce. There was a brief rush of wickets again, as Ireland went from 125 for 1 to 139 for 4, but the 87-run stand between Kevin O'Brien and Porterfield stretched the overall lead past 300. Porterfield eventually fell for 108; O'Brien made 58 off 49 balls, before being run out and Ireland declared shortly thereafter, on 240 for 7, with their lead at 342.

Netherlands lost Wesley Barresi off the third ball of their second innings, trapped lbw by Murtagh for 0. Stephan Myburgh then unleashed a brisk 85 off 98 balls to steady them, and dominated a second-wicket partnership of 107 with Daniel ter Braak, who contributed just 23. Myburgh was caught behind off Jacob Mulder, and Saqib Zulfiqar fell soon after to leave Netherlands 126 for 4. Ben Cooper (37 not out) and Borren (25 not out) then saw them through to stumps with an unbroken 60-run stand.