da bwin： 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
Cricinfo staff24-Oct-2005Ireland 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
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. Ireland’s captain Trent Johnston did the business with the ball and Jeremy Bray impressed with the bat as Ireland finised the day on 306 for 1 after UAE had been bowled out for 189 – a lead of 467.Bray added to his first innings 78 with a thumping unbeaten 169 and shared in an undefeated second-wicket stand of 269 with Kent’s Niall O’Brien. It was O’Brien’s maiden first-class hundred and Bray’s highest score. Bray was the more dominant of the pair, crashing 20 boundaries as the under-strength UAE attack wilted. Things got so desperate for them that wicketkeeper Mohammad Taskeen was the only man not called up to bowl.Ireland look set to declare overnight to force a result, with UAE, on first innings form, unlikely to come anywhere near challenging the total.Taskeen, unbeaten on 38 overnight, needed a big score if UAE were to recover from their score of 77 for 4. But when he fell to 18-year-old Greg Thompson on 47, UAE’s hopes disappeared. Rameed Shahzad, batting at No. 5, added a mature 41 that defied his 17 years, but the tail was blown away by the pace of Ireland’s Johnston, who picked up 5 for 33 – his his best first-class bowling figures. Last man Fahad Alhashmi’s 21 from 27 balls added a touch of respectability to UAE’s score, but 189 – and a deficit of 161 – was never going to be enough.