Balbirnie 74 sets up Ireland's first win of the tri-nation series
Ireland avoided a third-straight loss in the tournament after beating Scotland by 46 runs in Deventer
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Jun-2018
Ireland 205 for 5 (Balbirnie 74, Wilson 58, Stirling 51) beat Scotland 159 for 5 (Munsey 41, Dockrell 2-15) by 46 runs
A trio of half-centuries from Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie and captain Gary Wilson propelled Ireland to a 46-run win over Scotland at Deventer, Ireland's first win of the T20 tri-series after losing two straight to the Netherlands at Rotterdam.
Ireland posted their joint third-highest total in T20Is in making 205 for 5 after choosing to bat first. Of the three totals that were equal or better than Saturday's effort, a common thread has been the excellence of Stirling and Wilson. Both batsmen scored a half-century in 200+ scores made in separate matches against Afghanistan while both crossed 50 the last time they played Scotland as well when the Irish made 211 for 6 in the semi-final of the Desert T20 Challenge in January 2017 in Dubai.
Behind Stirling's hot start, Ireland raced to 76 for 2 in seven overs when he finally was caught off the bowling of Michael Leask. Ireland's run rate never dipped below nine during the entire innings. Balbirnie entered the match with a career-best of 31 in 10 T20Is but more than doubled it against Scotland, combining for a pair of half-century stands - first with Stirling and later with Wilson, who fell in the final over just after helping Ireland past 200.
Just like Scotland's performance on Tuesday in the first T20I against Pakistan at the Grange, they kept the required run rate in check during the Powerplay behind a confident reply constructed by captain Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey. The pair added 65 but once Coetzer was dismissed by George Dockrell in the seventh over, the wheels fell off of the chase. Munsey was caught for a top score of 41 in Dockrell's next over before spin continued to make inroads in the middle overs of the chase. Calum MacLeod fell to Stirling's part-time offspin while Richie Berrington was caught by Dockrell off the spin of Simi Singh to make it 130 for 4, leaving the middle order 76 to get off 25 balls. Scotland never came close to threatening the target and eventually ended on 159 for 5.
