ICC Intercontinental Cup

Bray hammers Ireland towards the final

Ireland virtually secured their place in the final of the Intercontinental Cup with an overwhelming display with bat and ball on day two of the semi-final at Windhoek

James Fitzgerald

Ireland 350 for 7 dec and 306 for 1 (Bray 169*, O'Brien 118*) lead UAE 189 (Mohammad Taskeen 47, Johnston 5-33) by 467 runs
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Jeremy Bray hits out on his way to 169 not out © ICC
On his debut as captain Trent Johnston took five wickets for just 33 runs as the United Arab Emirates crumbled under severe Irish pressure in the semi-final of the Intercontinental Cup in Windhoek yesterday.

Coming on to bowl yesterday morning after Adrian McCoubrey had failed to make an impression, Johnston quickly got into his stride, putting the ball on the perfect line and length. Helped by a little away swing through the air, the Clontarf all-rounder rattled through the UAE lower order, leaving them still 161 runs short of Ireland's impressive first innings total of 350.

The Irish then batted the UAE into submission with Jeremy Bray and Niall O'Brien both scoring fine centuries. The two left-handers put on an unbeaten 269 runs for the second wicket, an all-time Irish record and Bray will have the chance this morning to become the highest-ever scoring Irishman if he can pass 198 set by Ivan Anderson in 1973. Such is the complicated points system, even if Ireland only draw this match, they will now still progress through to Thursday's final.

"I was very happy with how we performed as a team today," said captain Johnston at the close of play. When bowling, he decided to come off his shorter run-up rather than steaming in at full pace in the hot Namibian sunshine. "What's the use in me charging off 25 steps out there? I just thought that if I can get it in the right areas, with the ball swinging around, it would be more beneficial to the team," he said.

With an eye on the final and the need to keep bowlers fresh, Johnston says he would be now happy with a draw as he has so many bonus points in the bag that only a highly unlikely defeat could stop the Irish.

"There's no point risking our bowlers by declaring too early just because we want to win outright. Our aim coming into this match was getting to the final and that is what we intend to do," he said.

While Johnston was undoubtedly the pick of Ireland's bowlers yesterday, Kyle McCallan (2-23) also performed well on a pitch that is not really turning. Greg Thompson, too, bowl well at times and even managed to bowl their opening batsman Mohammed Taskeen around his legs, a classic leg-spinner's dismissal. And the overall standard of ground fielding was first class.

When it was Ireland's turn to bat again, they showed no mercy with Bray and O'Brien making it a long day for the UAE. Play resumes this morning with Ireland a massive 467 runs ahead and still with nine wickets in hand. They are as good as in the final already.