Honours even on day one

Scotland 133 for 6 (Watson 20*, Smith 6*) trail Ireland 193 (Naseer Shaukat 48, Asim Butt 4-25) by 60 runs
Scorecard

Scotland went some way towards avenging their European Championship defeat last month, bowling Ireland out for 193 on the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match at Clontarf in Dublin, but Ireland struck back in the afternoon session, as Scotland stumbled to 128 for 6. Ireland were in serious trouble when they collapsed to 76 for 6 this morning, but were saved from humiliation by innings off 44 from Peter Gillespie and 48 from Naseer Shaukat, batting at No. 9.

Asim Butt did the damage for Scotland early on, trapping Jeremy Bray lbw for a duck and having Andre Botha caught by Ryan Watson for 4 to reduce Scotland to 12 for 2. Craig Wright, Scotland's captain, then grabbed three quick, with Watson taking two more catches, as Ireland slipped to 71 for 5.

That soon became 76 for 6 when Wright caught Trent Johnston off the bowling of Dewald Nel for 4, but Gillespie and Peter Mooney then steadied the batting with a 44-run partnership. Scotland struck back when Gregor Maiden had Gillespie caught by Fraser Watts (118 for 7), but Mooney found a more than able partner in Naseer Shaukat, and together they added 69 more to the total.

However, Scotland then grabbed the initiative once again, with Asim Butt picking up two more wickets, including that of Mooney for 32 to break the partnership, as the last three wickets fell for only six runs.

Scotland's reply was far from convincing, but they should be able to build a fairly substantial lead tomorrow after finishing at 122 for 5, just 71 behind Ireland. Dougie Lockhart did not last long, caught by Naseer Shaukat off Mooney for 4 (9 for 1), and Bruce Patterson had made only 16 when he was caught on the crease by the impressive Johnston for 16 (41 for 2).

But Fraser Watts (31) and Chris English (20) ensured that Ireland never dominated, but both fell to Naseer Shaukat before the close, and a lot will now rest on Ryan Watson, who showed glimpses of what he is capable of at the European Championship, is unbeaten on 20.

Ireland have to avoid defeat in this match to qualify for the semi-finals of the cup to join Kenya, United Arab Emirates and Canada in Dubai in November, while Scotland will qualify only if they pull off a comprehensive victory.