Ireland v Scotland, Quad Series, Stormont

Coach pleased with Botha's return

Cricinfo staff

July 16, 2007

Ireland have been given a huge boost with the return of Andre Botha, the allrounder, for the Quadrangular series after a tennis elbow kept him out of the ODIs against India and South Africa, their coach Phil Simmons said.

"We really missed him at the start of the summer when we gave a lot of younger lads the chance," Simmons told sportinglife.com. "He always gets through his overs efficiently and his batting gives us options at the top of the order."

In their final match of the series, against Scotland, Botha picked up 3 for 27 in nine overs after adding 46 with Niall O'Brien as Ireland beat Scotland by 23 runs. But Ireland failed to gain the bonus point point needed to share the series title with West Indies. They had to bowl out Scotland for 177 but the visitors managed to make 199.

Meanwhile Ryan Watson, the Scotland captain, felt that his side had played well in parts but were not good enough to win matches at the international level. Chasing 223, Scotland were at a comfortable 167 for 3 in the 44th over before they lost their last seven wickets in the space of 39 balls.

"We didn't bowl as well as we can, which is unusual for us, but there were positives," said Watson, who top-scored with 83. "Neil McCallum showed what a good player he is with his 54 and we've got to follow his lead in the Intercontinental Cup matches against Ireland and Netherlands next month."

Scotland play two four-day games against Netherlands and Ireland as part of the ICC Intercontinental Cup between August 2 and 12.

© Cricinfo

	Email

Fantasy cricket: India v Australia and Bangladesh v New Zealand Login to check the standings     Watch our daily Cricinfo SportsCenter news round-ups Available on Cricinfo.tv     Live scores, news & ball-by-ball commentary on your phone Cricinfo Mobile

Matches

Ireland v Scotland at Belfast

Players/Umpires

Andre Botha

Phil Simmons

Ryan Watson

Series/Tournaments

Quadrangular Series (Ireland)

Teams

Ireland

Scotland