Ireland don’t do boring games! For the fourth time in six one-day internationals this season, the result was decided in the last over and, after two ties and a defeat, Ireland finally came out on the winning side. Significantly, they were batting second. Tim Murtagh, Ireland’s best bowler in Tuesday’s game against England in Malahide, was again Ireland’s hero, this time with the bat, as Ireland’s dramatic one wicket win, off the penultimate ball, condemned Scotland to the qualifying tournament in New Zealand at the start of next year to reach the World Cup finals.

Ireland, of course, are already there – their fixtures for Australia and New Zealand 2015 in the diary - and for long periods of the game at Stormont there was an air of complacency. None more so than when Ireland collapsed from 95 for no wicket to 146 for seven, chasing Scotland’s below par 223. But this Ireland team is full of all-rounders and they seem to relish an against-the-odds chase.

So first, Trent Johnston, with a score he hasn’t bettered since before the last World Cup, then Max Sorensen, on route to his Ireland best, hit some lusty blows to edge Ireland closer but it was Murtagh who got Ireland over the line. Needing 12 off the last over – or 11 for yet another tie, the Middlesex man hit the fourth ball into the sightscreen for six and the fifth ball to the point boundary to leave the Scots devastated.

They were probably feeling pretty bad after William Porterfield, resuming where he left off against England, and Paul Stirling scored at will for 17 overs, the captain particularly impressive in reaching 62 off 64 balls, including 10 sweet boundaries, before he gave a catch to backward point. He batted as if he had a big football match to go – which, as an avid Northern Ireland fan, he had – but after his dismissal, he got not help from his top order colleagues and in the end he had to make a dash to Windsor Park to get there for the kick-off.

The Ireland bowling - including debutant Eddie Richardson, replacing John Mooney who has a quad strain which rules him out for two weeks - was rescued by George Dockrell who took four for 24 as the slow left armer ripped through the middle order, but when his overs ran out, Scotland’s last two wickets added 58 off the last eight overs; Trent Johnston probably needing more than two days’ recovery time, finishing as badly as he started when he bowled eight wides in his first three overs.

David Townsend (Irish Independent)

Tim Murtagh was an unlikely hero with the bat at Stormont yesterday as Ireland scrambled to a one-wicket victory with a ball to spare to end Scotland's hopes of automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup. An inexplicable Irish collapse from 95-0 to 146-7 pursuing a target of 224 had put the visiting side firmly in the driving seat in the ICC World Cricket League ODI but William Porterfield's side never know when they are beaten.

First Trent Johnston and Max Sorensen got the chase back on track with an eighth-wicket partnership of 34, then Murtagh and Sorensen chipped away with a stand of 29. With 28 needed from the last three overs, then 17 from two, Ireland were still second favourites and looked long odds against when Sorensen was stumped for 31 in the penultimate over.

The last-wicket pair pushed and nudged singles until, with nine required from three balls, Murtagh launched a straight six followed by a square-driven four to the delight and amazement of his team-mates and the Belfast crowd. "It was all under control, we had a ball to spare," the Middlesex bowler joked. "It was a bit dark when I went out to bat and it got a bit closer than it should but it was nice to be out there at the end and get over the line in such a tight game."

The loss was cruel on Scotland, who have been dominated by Ireland for most of the last decade, and must now hope to claim one of the last two World Cup places in a qualifying tournament in January. Captain Preston Mommsen had struck 91 not out but Scotland's total of 223-9 looked inadequate after George Dockrell (4-24) and Sorensen (2-37) both recorded their best figures in ODIs.

Ireland were heading for yet another routine victory over the visitors as Porterfield and Paul Stirling raced to 95 in only 17 overs but when the openers departed in quick succession six batsmen fell for only 36, followed soon after by North County all-rounder Eddie Richardson for 12 on hIs ODI debut.