Botha shows all-round worth but rain has last laugh in Belfast

Andre Botha is the quiet man of Irish cricket. At least until he takes the field, and even then he usually lets his talent do the talking.

The softly spoken all-rounder has had a fine season as Ireland's most consistent seam and swing bowler but over the past few days it has been his batting that has taken centre stage as he played a vital role in securing first innings points in his side's ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland at Stormont.

Batting with Niall O'Brien (84) and then Alex Cusack (130), Botha stamped his authority on the game and after more than five and a half hours at the crease eventually fell just 14 runs short of what would have been a maiden double-hundred.

"We lost Niall early (on day four), but Alex batted really well," Botha told the CricketEurope website afterwards. "It's the first time we batted together, and I thought we complemented each other very well. We're a left/right combination, and there was a good understanding in our running despite never having batted together before," said the 31-year-old.

Botha said he had no regrets about missing out on the record individual score for Ireland set by Eoin Morgan against the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

"It was at the back of my mind, the fact that Eoin had made 209 not out. If it happened, it would have been nice, but it's one of those things."

Unfortunately, it was a game that was hugely influenced by the weather - it spoiled what was shaping up to be another thrilling encounter between these fierce rivals.

Day one had mostly gone Ireland's way with Scotland's cautious batsmen managing just 183-7 off 101 overs. At the close, number eight batsman John Blain was not out on 13 with little to predict what would happen when he resumed his innings.

But the following day, it looked like a different Scotland team that took the field. Blain and Simon Smith seized the initiative and made the most of some wayward Ireland bowling. Smith was out for 40 and then Dewald Nel contributed a crucial 22 as Blain continued the onslaught. He eventually fell for 93, well caught in the deep by Kevin O'Brien, and suddenly Scotland was right back in the match, all out for 314.

And things continued to go Scotland's way as Ireland slumped to 59-4 in reply and at that stage it looked like Ryan Watson's men would go on to take first innings honours. But O'Brien, Botha and Cusack had other ideas, putting together two partnerships of genuine class to take the game away from the visitors.

O'Brien and Botha put on 122 for the fifth wicket and then Cusack and Botha added another 234 for the sixth (an Ireland record) to take the game away from their opponents.

The whole of day three was lost due to rain and by the time play finally resumed on the afternoon of day four, there was insufficient time left for an outright result. Botha's 186 is the fourth highest by an Ireland batsman in the 152-year history of international cricket in that country.

The pick of the bowlers for Scotland was former captain Craig Wright who took 3-93 while Dewald Nel chipped in with two wickets.

Ireland had reached 473-7 when the rain returned and, perhaps fittingly, had the final say as the match was drawn.

By the regulations of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, three points are awarded to both teams in matches where more than eight hours in total are lost due to rain, over and above any points awarded by virtue of one side getting an innings lead. As such, Ireland takes nine points from the match and Scotland three.

Scotland's man of the moment Blain was rueful of how the match panned out for his side but naturally delighted with his own personal performance.

"We took our time to get to our total - it wasn't easy batting on the first day. The next morning we upped the tempo a little bit and it paid off. I batted quite well, I played within myself and I was happy with how it went. It would have been nice to get to a hundred but when we were nine down I thought I should take a few more risks and I suppose I paid the price getting caught on the boundary.

"We had Ireland in a bit of trouble (at 59-4) but we couldn't capitalise on that start. Niall O'Brien batted well and so did Cusack on debut and Andre Botha but I think they got the better of the conditions than we did.

"The weather has ruined a lot cricket all summer in this part of the world so it has been a bit frustrating but we are not the only ones who have been affected."

Scotland is now joint top of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007/08 table with Canada on 26 points but has played three matches to Canada's two. The Netherlands is third on 14 points with defending champion Ireland fourth with nine, although the Irish have only played one game.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07 event.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.