Ireland poised for big win

Scotland 138 and 143 for 8 (Sharif 60, Sorensen 4-32) trail Ireland 350 (Stirling 65, Anderson 56, Iqbal 4-68) by 69 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A strong batting display from Ireland, followed by an incisive spell of 4 for 32 from right-arm seamer Max Sorensen left the hosts on the cusp of a comprehensive victory against Scotland in their Intercontinental Cup match in Dublin.

Sorensen, who picked up three wickets against Scotland in a World Cricket League Championship game last Sunday, dismissed Hamish Gardiner and Freddie Coleman in the third over. Preston Mommsen and Calum MacLeod also fell victim to Sorensen's first spell as Scotland slumped to 27 for 4 in the 11th over.

It became 64 for 7 before No. 9 Safyaan Sharif manned a rearguard action for the second time in the match. He added 79 runs with Majid Haq during an eighth-wicket stand that lasted 26 overs. Sharif recorded his maiden first-class half-century but lost his wicket off what became the last ball of the day, leaving Scotland at 143 for 8, and needing another 69 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Despite rain wiping out most of day two, Ireland's batsmen put up a solid performance as Paul Stirling composed a 101-ball 65 that included 11 fours, and together with John Anderson, added 92 for the second wicket to take Ireland beyond Scotland's first-innings score of 139. Anderson played the ideal foil for Stirling, picking up a fifty himself, which included five fours.

But Stirling threw his wicket away, pulling straight to deep mid wicket off seamer Alasdair Evans and Legspinner Moneeb Iqbal dismissed Anderson for 56 off just his second delivery.

With two new batsmen at the crease, Scotland might have sensed the tide changing, but Andrew White and Kevin O'Brien put up a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket and then, when Iqbal and Haq removed the pair in quick succession, Andrew Balbirnie and Stuart Poynter contributed 62 runs for the sixth wicket to increase Ireland's lead.

Iqbal and Haq took four wickets each, but were unable to curtail the flow of runs from the Ireland batsmen, who together struck a total of 43 fours and four sixes in the innings to build a lead of 212.