CRICKET/Intercontinental Cup - Ireland v Bermuda:Centuries by Andre Botha and William Porterfield put Ireland in a powerful position on the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Bermuda at Clontarf yesterday. Ireland cruised to 362 for 3 by close of play on a day when the sparse crowd here were warmed by some positive batting, helped by a few dropped catches and some wayward bowling.
After an hour's delay in the morning because of heavy dew, Ireland lost Andrew White in the second over. From there the day was dominated by Botha and Porterfield (153 not out), who shared a second wicket stand of 221. The partnership was the second highest recorded by an Ireland pair for the second wicket, behind the 304 amassed by Jeremy Bray and Niall O'Brien in the semi-final of this competition against UAE in 2005.
It is the ninth double century stand for Ireland. Remarkably Botha has been involved in three of these. The left-hander currently holds the highest partnership record for the third and sixth wickets.
It was a sign of how well Botha played that he looked disappointed as he walked back through the pavilion after his second consecutive Intercontinental Cup ton, suggesting he had Eoin Morgan's all-time high of 209 not out in his sights. It says much about his enthusiasm for self-improvement that he then spent an hour analysing his innings on a laptop.
Timing the ball from the first delivery, Botha stroked 10 fours in his first 50 runs, which came up in the 21st over out of a total of 87. Dissecting the field with precise cuts and leg side clips, he was particularly harsh on anything short, of which there was plenty.
In the 90s he faced a more than generous over from Dwayne Leverock. If you are ever on the verge of a first-class century, the rotund figure of the Bermudan policeman is one you want to see at the other end. Botha clipped a short ball from the left arm spinner through mid wicket and skipped along to take the applause of his team-mates.
Porterfield went in to tea on 98, and given he was dropped at second slip first ball after lunch, may have had a nervous break. All such thoughts were banished however, as he got to his third century of 2007 with a typical forcing shot through point.
When he reached 128, the left-hander from the Rush club recorded 1,000 runs for the year in Ireland colours. His first two hundreds came back at the World Cricket League in Nairobi.
Bermuda looked a disorganised unit, reflecting the chaos that has engulfed them over the past year and which threatens to undermine the long hoped-for transition to the top tier of Caribbean cricket. The detail of this rapid decline in fortunes is a kick in the teeth for the ICC and its attempts to build the game among the associate nations. Just two years ago Bermuda qualified for the World Cup by being second in the group stage of the ICC Trophy, behind Ireland.
Ireland resume this morning with Kevin O'Brien supporting Porterfield who batted through the whole first day. Their aim will be to bat once in this game, scoring over 450 to set up a platform from which their bowlers can attack the Bermuda batmen.
