Few clues offered as batsmen fail to deliver worthwhile total

On that day last September when they played England, 10,000 Ireland supporters packed into the temporary stands, hospitality stands clinked glasses of red wine and gin and tonics, and the action was beamed via the Sky Sports cameras to a prime-time audience in India.

Yesterday's match may have been distinctly low key by comparison, but it was just as important as any showpiece against a full member nation for the Scotland coach Grant Bradburn and his Ireland counterpart Phil Simmons.

The three-match series in north County Dublin is the last chance for the pair to assess their squads this summer before they select their respective panels to travel Down Under at the end of September. Those pre-World Cup matches against Australia and New Zealand state sides are likely to include the players who will form the basis of their 15-man World Cup squads next February.

For Bradburn, yesterday's defeat will have given him few clues. Scotland went into the match without their regular captain Kyle Coetzer, Rob Taylor and Matt Machan, missing through county commitments, and the injured pace pair of Ruaidhri Smith and Gavin Main. Their replacements failed to step up to the mark as Scotland were bowled out for 172 in 40.3 overs.

Hamish Gardiner, who has made a late run for a World Cup place through his club and North Sea Pro Series form, failed to impress as he became one of Ireland ODI debutant Craig Young's five victims.

Max Sorensen (2-28), and Andy McBrine (2-36) were also among the wickets on a bowler-friendly track that offered encouragement to both the pacemen and the spinners.

The only score of note was a quickfire 50 from 50 balls from Michael Leask down the order, which included a huge straight-driven 6 off the spinner McBrine that scattered the media tent. The 23-year-old, who is almost certain to make the World Cup panel after his man-of-the-match performance in May's ODI against England in Aberdeen, and Safyaan Sharif put on 54 for the eighth-wicket, the only significant partnership of the Scotland innings.

Ireland lost John Anderson early, trapped lbw by Iain Wardlaw, but Andrew Balbirnie's patient 38 carried the Middlesex opener through partnerships of 39 with Andrew Poynter (16), and 43 with the captain O'Brien as Ireland adopted a safety-first approach. O'Brien (56 not out) and Stuart Thompson (35 not out) then increased the scoring rate, adding 80 in 71 balls to secure victory with 13.2 overs to spare. Preston Mommsen, the Scotland captain, admitted that his side had failed to deal with the two-paced pitch after losing the toss and being put into bat, and that their low total left the bowlers with an impossible job.

"Unfortunately, we could not quite get going in the first half with the bat, and there was no real platform to get a competitive total," he said.

"We did not get enough runs and the chain reaction of that was that we could not put Ireland under enough pressure when they were batting. It was a fresh wicket - we knew it would do a bit early on but we could not quite adapt to that."

The Scotland top order were no match for Ireland bowler Young, who took 5-46 in his 10 overs which included a spell of three wickets for three runs in 15 balls. Young, a 24-year-old Derry-born fast bowler, left Sussex last summer and has returned to his home country hoping to use club and inter-provincial cricket as a springboard for a late World Cup bid.

"Fourteen months ago I did not really know what the future would be, but I have had a phenomenal year," he said. "I chose to come back to Ireland as well; I wasn't released by Sussex but I got offered a contract [from Cricket Ireland] and it was a no-brainer to come home."

Mommsen accepts that his side need to improve if they are to work their way back into the series. "We need to show more patience; we have the skills to take our time up front and absorb pressure," he said. "Leasky and Safi showed that if you get a partnership going, things can become easier."