CRICKET/C&G Trophy: Ireland spun their way to a famous victory in the at the County Ground, Bristol, yesterday with a 47-run win over five-times champions Gloucestershire.
It is the first time Ireland have beaten a county away from home in a one-day competition and so, in a way, it is even sweeter than the Middlesex win in 1997 and the one against Surrey two years ago.
Off his eight overs, Pakistan leg-spinner Shahid Afridi (one of the two permitted overseas players) took three wickets for four runs while off-spinner Kyle McCallan took 3 for 5, including two off the first two balls he bowled.
It was a remarkable spell of bowling as Gloucestershire crumbled from 124 for 4 to 146 all out in the space of 12 overs and this victory will now be filed away along with other great scalps this team has taken in the last four years or so. The West Indies, Surrey, Zimbabwe and Kenya have all succumbed to Adrian Birrell's team and this latest win will send shivers up the spines of the seven teams they have yet to play in this competition.
Once a potential banana-skin for the major counties, Ireland have now become a side that can trouble the very best. No team will dare take them lightly again.
"This win is right up there with the others," said skipper Trent Johnston afterwards. "Gloucestershire have been setting the benchmark in this competition in recent years so to come here and beat them in their own back yard is awesome," he said.
In chilly, overcast conditions it had been a bad toss for Johnston to lose and there was never any doubt he would be asked to bat first on a wicket on which Middlesex had collapsed to 95 all out the week before.
Gloucestershire's Jon Lewis and James Averis made the new ball dart around in the first few overs and it didn't take long to make the breakthrough. With the score on 18, Dominick Joyce played across a straight one from Averis and was triggered by umpire Ian Gould. Jeremy Bray and Andre Botha soon followed for nine and zero respectively.
But just as the Bristol faithful were contemplating another early finish, Eoin Morgan and Afridi dug in to put on 72 runs for the fourth wicket. Morgan looked close to his best in a classy knock full of straight drives but, having made it to 40, he popped up an easy catch for Matt Windows at short extra-cover.
That sparked the second collapse of the Irish innings as Johnston (lbw for 1), Afridi (bowled for 36) and McCallan (run out for 6) all beat a path back to the WG Grace Pavilion.
Only Peter Gillespie (41 not out) and Langford-Smith (34) put up resistance and it was thanks to their 61-run stand that Ireland got to a total of 193 that at the time looked barely respectable.
Ireland's opening bowlers did well to restrict Gloucester early on but when Steve Adshead and Phil Weston went past 50 for no loss, it looked ominous. But Johnston made the breakthrough and from then the wickets kept falling at regular intervals so by the time Afridi and McCallan came on to bowl, the scene was set.
And boy, did they play their part. Afridi was almost unplayable at times - of his eight overs, six were maidens - while McCallan did what he seems to do best: take crucial wickets at the most opportune times.
In the end, the axe came down so quickly on Gloucestershire that the end was greeted with a stunned silence by the home crowd, pierced by a few whoops from a small Irish contingent.
Ireland must now put the champagne on ice and try to keep the momentum as they cross the Severn for tomorrow's game against Glamorgan in Cardiff.
What price a famous double? Still reasonably high odds, one would think, but then, dare you bet against this Irish side now?
Scoreboard
IRELAND
D Joyce lbw Averis 7
J Bray run out 9
E Morgan c Windows b Gidman 40
A Botha lbw Averis 0
S Afridi b Ball 36
T Johnston lbw Ball 1
P Gillespie not out 41
K McCallan run out 6
D Langford-Smith c Taylor b Averis34
S Mushtaq c Hardinges b Averis 5
A McCoubrey not out 2
Extras (5lb, 7w) 12
Total (for 9, 50 overs) ... 193
Fall: 18, 19, 23, 95, 96, 107, 118, 179, 189
Bowling: Lewis 10-1-30-0, Averis 10-2-17-4, Harvey 9-0-40-0, Hardinges 8-0-58-0, Gidman 5-1-17-1, Ball 8-0-26-2
Ireland won by 47 runs.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
S Adshead c Morgan b Johnston 24
P Weston c Bray b Botha 21
I Harvey c Joyce b Langford-Smith 20
C Spearman lbw Botha 9
C Taylor lbw McCallan 22
A Gidman c Bray b Afridi 6
M Windows lbw Afridi 7
M Hardinges b McCallan 0
M Ball not out 5
J Lewis b Afridi 0
J Averis c Afridi b McCallan 0
Extras (4b, 11lb, 13w, 4nb) 32
Total (all out, 38 overs) 146
Fall: 53, 63, 77, 89, 124, 135, 135, 139, 141
Bowling: Johnston 6-0-25-1, McCoubrey 5-0-25-0, Botha 4-0-25-2, Langford-Smith 5-1-15-1, Saqlain 6-0-32-0, Afridi 8-6-4-3, McCallan 4-3-5-3
