Butt and Watts put Scotland on course

Scotland 167 (Naseer Shaukat 5-60) and 118 for 2 (Watts 57*) require another 87 runs to beat Ireland 193 (Naseer Shaukat 48) and 178 (White 67, Asim Butt 5-47)
Scorecard

Scotland closed the second day of their Intercontinental Cup match at Clontarf in Dublin with all the aces as they went some way towards avenging their European Championship defeat to Ireland last month. After Scotland were all out for 167 in their first innings, Ireland crashed to 178 with Asim Butt taking 5 for 47. Fraser Watts then scored 57 not out as Scotland closed in on their target at 118 for 2.

Scotland only added another 34 runs in the remainder of their first innings in the morning, as Naseer Shaukat mopped up the tail to finish with figures of 5 for 60. That gave Ireland a lead of 26, but they soon wasted the initiative as Asim made early inroads into the top order. He removed the top three, and Craig Wright and Paul Hoffmann then chipped in with two wickets each. Only Andrew White, who scored 67, and Trent Johnston, who managed 47, contributed to the meagre total, which left Scotland requiring 205 for victory.

However, in keeping with the match so far, both Scottish openers fell early, but Watts and David Lockhart added an unbroken stand of 80 to put Scotland 87 runs away from victory.

The result isn't yet a foregone conclusion, but the final semi-final place may be inching towards Scotland, who will only qualify only if they pull off a comprehensive victory. Ireland, on the other hand, have to avoid defeat in this match to qualify for the semi-finals in Dubai in November.