Ireland kept their hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Cricket World Cup alive in Harare on Sunday after they ended Scotland’s unbeaten run in the tournament with a 25-run victory. Niall O’Brien made a run-a-ball 70 in a third-wicket stand of 138, proving the perfect foil to the more circumspect innings of Balbirnie. Balbirnie survived a number of scares to go on and score his second ODI century before departing at the end of the 45th over with the score on 241. Ireland then suffered a late collapse, losing four more wickets and failing to score a boundary in the last four overs. Kyle Coetzer looked like he was going to play a match-defining innings when he went after Ireland bowler Boyd Rankin as Scotland started their reply.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2018 16:18 UTC