Dougherty's masterly century sets up 174-run victory for Ireland in ICC European U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier

Chris Dougherty stroked a blistering century for Ireland and Calum MacLeod took four wickets for Scotland on Tuesday as the arch-rivals set up a must-win match in the ICC European U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Belfast.

Dougherty hit a masterly 131 to help Ireland defeat Denmark by 174 runs at Osborne Park while MacLeod picked up 4-36 at a crucial stage to bowl Scotland to a tense 26-run victory over the Netherlands at Stormont.

The results mean that Ireland and Scotland, with two wins each from as many games, will now meet on Thursday with only one of them able to join the ICC's 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (which recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific Region) at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March, 2008 in Malaysia.

The Americas U/19 Qualifier, Asia U/19 Qualifier and Africa U/19 Qualifier will be played next month and the winners of those events will complete the 16-team line up.

Dougherty was in superb form as he clobbered 16 boundaries in his 137-ball knock to steer Ireland to 301-8 after the home side won the toss. Dougherty, who came into this tournament after scoring more than 600 runs in senior club cricket, featured in two big partnerships.

Opening the innings with Paul Stirling (42 off 48 balls with five fours), Dougherty put on 94 runs and then for the second wicket with Graham McDonnell, the left-handed opener added 113 runs. McDonnell's contribution in the stand was 37 from 43 balls with five fours.

Denmark's fate was then sealed by a top-order collapse as it slipped to 34-4 before it was eventually bowled out for 127 in 37.1 overs. Off-spinner James Hall followed up his 3-21 against the Netherlands with impressive figures of 4-22.

Batsmen had to dig in on a testing Osborne Park pitch where Scotland held its nerve to beat the Netherlands by 26 runs.

Electing to bat first, Scotland's batsmen struggled to 208 for four in 50 overs, thanks to a late assault by Calum MacLeod who scored 21 off 12 balls and, together with Fraser Burnett, added 25 runs from the last three overs for the unfinished fifth wicket.

Ryan Flannigan top scored for Scotland with 56 from 156 balls while captain Scott Dalgleish scored 42 off 66 balls.

The Netherlands looked dead and buried when it slumped to 69-6 but Stijn Aleema and Tim Gruijters lifted the spirits with a 69-run seventh-wicket partnership to take the score to 138.

At that stage, MacLeod returned for his second spell and took three quick wickets to end the Netherlands innings for 182 in 48.4 overs. MacLeod finished as the pick of Scotland bowlers with 4-36 while Charles Legget took 2-39.

For the Netherlands, Allema scored a 77-ball 51 with five fours while Gruijters hit a 58-ball 40.

Scores in brief:
At Osborne Park, Ireland beat Denmark by 174 runs
Ireland: 301-8 in 50 overs (Chris Dougherty 131, Paul Stirling 42, Graham McDonnell 37, Eoghan Delany 24 not out, Suleman Arshad 3-58, Finn Kleissl 2-48)
Denmark: 127 in 37.1 overs (Flemming Boldt 25, James Hall 4-21, Graham McDonnell 2-24)

At Stormont, Scotland beat the Netherlands by 26 runs
Scotland: 208-4 in 50 overs (Ryan Flannigan 56, Scott Dalgleish 42, Ewan Chalmers 35, Scott MacLennan 28, Calum MacLeod 21 not out, Graeme Davey 2-42)
The Netherlands: 182 in 48.4 overs (Stijn Allema 51, Tim Gruijters 40, Alexei Kervezee 30, Calum MacLeod 4-36, Charles Legget 2-39)

Thursday's fixtures: Denmark v the Netherlands at Belmont, Ireland v Scotland at Osborne Park.

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.