Ireland and Scotland make confident starts in ICC European U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Belfast

Arch-rivals Ireland and Scotland made confident starts in the ICC European U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier when they comfortably won their opening matches in Belfast, Ireland on Monday.

At Bangor, European champions Ireland defeated the Netherlands by eight wickets while, in the day's other match in the four-team round-robin event, Scotland beat Denmark by 145 runs at Osborne Park.

The winner of the European U/19 Qualifier will join the ICC's 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (which recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific Region) for the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March, 2008 in Malaysia. The Americans 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.

The platform for Ireland's straightforward victory was established by the pace and spin combination of Richard Keaveney and James Hall who shared seven wickets between them as the Netherlands, put into bat, lost its last five wickets for 30 runs to be bowled out for 123 in 47.1 overs.

Keaveney, who played in the last ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, picked up 4-29 while Hall, who captained Ireland U/17 in European Championships last year, claimed 3-21. Andrew Britton and captain Greg Thompson shared one wicket each.

Ben Ackland and Hall then put on 86 in an unbroken third wicket stand as Ireland achieved the victory target in 38.4 overs for the loss of openers Chris Dougherty (7) and Paul Stirling (22).

Ackland clubbed seven fours in his 68-ball 47 while Hall scored 41 off 84 balls with six fours and a six. For the Netherlands, Alexei Kervezee and Tim Gruijters took one wicket each.

At Osborne Park, Scotland captain Scott Dalgleish and Ryan Flannigan featured in a 117-run opening partnership to propel the Scots to 255 in 48.2 overs. Dalgleish clobbered nine fours and a six in his 68 off 67 balls while Flannigan's 48 took 74 deliveries and included five fours.

Charles Legget, low down the order, struck two fours and six in his 41-ball 43 and, together with Fraser Burnett (31), he added 63 runs for the sixth wicket after Scotland had slipped to 162-5 following that bright start.

For Denmark, Suleman Arshad was the pick of the bowlers with 4-21 while Vikar Akhtar took 2-19.

Denmark, in turn, was spun out for 110 in 44.2 overs. Left-arm spinner Ross Paxton returned excellent figures of 10-3-24-5 while Calum MacLeod and Scott Redhead took two wickets each conceding 17 and 27 runs respectively.

For the Danes, Rizwan Mahmood (27) and Aftab Ahmed (25) batted well and added 48 runs for the fourth wicket but the departure of Mahmood was the signal for a collapse which saw the final six wickets fall for 39 runs.

On Tuesday, Denmark meets Ireland at Osborne Park while the Netherlands takes on Scotland at Stormont.

At Bangor, Ireland beat the Netherlands by eight wickets
The Netherlands: 123 in 47.1 overs (Bob Entrop 36, Richard Keaveney 4-29, James Hall 3-21)
Ireland: 126-2 in 38.4 overs (Ben Ackland 47 not out, James Hall 41 not out, Paul Stirling 22)

At Osborne Park, Scotland beat Denmark 145 runs
Scotland: 255 in 48.2 overs (Scott Dalgleish 68, Ryan Flannigan 48, Charles Legget 43, Fraser Burnett 31, Suleman Arshad 4-21, Vikar Akhtar 2-19)
Denmark: 110 in 44.2 overs (Rizwan Mahmood 27, Aftab Ahmed 25, Ross Paxton 5-24, Calum MacLeod 2-17, Scott Redhead 2-27)

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.