Ireland v Scotland
Triple Crown
Stratford on Avon: 21st July 1994
Ireland won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: M Rea (Ireland)SCOTLAND IL Philip lbw b Lewis 8 BOWLING: IRELAND *AC Storie lbw b Lewis 13 Moore 9 1 34 0 GN Reifer not out 52 Nelson 11 4 30 1 JD Love b Lewis 1 Hoey 11 3 19 0 G Salmond c Millar b Lewis 12 Lewis 11 1 21 4 M Allingham st Millar b Harrison 3 Harrison 8 2 25 2 JW Govan c Lewis b Curry 2 Curry 5 0 21 1 %DA Orr st Millar b Harrison 11 GM Hamilton b Nelson 21 FALL OF WICKETS IM Stanger not out 15 25, 27, 29, 63, 76, MS Richardson 83, 105, 135 Extras (lb 6, w 3, nb 9) 18 Total (8 wickets, 55 overs) 156 IRELAND MF Cohen lbw b Richardson 4 BOWLING: SCOTLAND MP Rea not out 72 Hamilton 8 0 39 0 *SJS Warke c Orr b Allingham 15 Richardson 10.2 2 28 1 DA Lewis c Philip b Allingham 0 Stanger 11 2 27 0 GD Harrison c Orr b Reifer 12 Allingham 10 1 27 2 DJ Curry c Salmond b Reifer 7 Govan 1 0 6 0 SG Smyth not out 31 Reifer 8 1 23 2 CJ Hoey %RB Millar FALL OF WICKETS AN Nelson 7, 53, 53, 80, 93 ER Moore Extras (b 1, lb 6 w 3, nb 6) 16 Total (5 wickets, 48.2 overs) 157 Umpires: K Bray & B Harrison Toss: Ireland * captain % wicketkeeper
Smyth, Rea and Lewis star in opening victory
Exactly a year after Stephen Smyth played his last game for Ireland, the young batsman returned to the international stage in style to help Ireland to victory in the opening Triple Crown game against Scotland at Stratford upon Avon. Ireland's final margin was a comfortable five wickets with an even more comfortable 6.2 overs to spare. Smyth scored 31 with four perfectly timed boundaries and an effortless six as he shared an undefeated sixth wicket partnership of 64 with Man of the Match Michael Rea. The Clontarf opener, dropped at slip by Love when only 11, made the Scots suffer for the second time in a month as he added another faultless 61 runs to rescue Ireland from the depths of 93 for five.The Irish bowling earlier in the day had been controlled and accurate, the fielding returned to its high standards of Headingley and made the efforts against Australia look like a bad dream, while the batting showed great resolve.
Luck wasn't with the batsman, either-Mark Cohen and Stephen Warke's decisions raised a few eyebrows, Garfield Harrison flashed at one too many and gave wicketkeeper Orr his second catch, while Decker Curry's first attacking shot ended up in the hands of mid wicket. Alan Lewis lasted only two balls, but in the end it did not matter and the catch he fell to in the gully was as breathtaking as his earlier bowling stint. He produced his best bowling spell for Ireland to return his top international figures of four for 21 from 11 overs-no more than he deserved. On a green wicket which offered the seam bowlers all the assistance they could possibly hope for, Lewis also swung the ball to make his opening overs virtually unplayable. He took a wicket with the fifth ball of each of his first two overs and the last ball of his third, at a cost of just two runs. The fourth came when Brian Millar sent George Salmond walking with a catch even better than the one he took to account for Barbados' Collis King at Ormeau earlier in the season.
Millar also ensured two wickets for Harrison, while Conor Hoey's 11 overs for 19 runs in the middle of the Scottish innings showed how much he had missed in the last few matches as he recovered from his injury. Alan Nelson bounced back into the international arena with four successive maidens. For Garfield Harrison there was the additional celebration of reaching the 100 wicket mark in his international career.
In the other opening day match in Birmingham, England bowled out Wales for 143 and went on to an easy win by 9 wickets with Steve Dean making an unbeaten 91 for the English.