Ireland defended their Under 15 crown with an excellent four wickets win over Northamptonshire at the Durham Festival.
Northants posted 179 with William Wears top-scoring with 56. James West took 3 for 34 to take his tally for the week to 13 - winning the leading wicket taker award for the second time at the prestigious competition.
The Irish reply started disastrously as they lost their top three with just 8 on the board - their target of 180 looking very distant.
They rallied thanks to a counter-attacking 58 from just 41 deliveries by skipper Rob O'Brien, who cleared the ropes 5 times as well as striking 4 fours.
He added 78 with James West (26) as the Irish reply got back on track.
Further runs from the middle-order pair of Sam Haslett (34) and Ethan Marshall (23*) sealed victory in the 34th over.
Nigel Jones side are back in action next week as they face Scotland in the Celtic Cup series with two 50 over games at Bangor on Monday and Tuesday, followed by two T20's at Templepatrick on Thursday.
Ireland U17s are also in Celtic Cup action next week as they travel to Scotland.
IRELAND BOWLING STATS
| # | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | wds | nbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J West | 4 | 39.1 | 7 | 90 | 13 | 4-17 | 6.92 | 2.30 | 18.08 | 1 | - |
| 2 | B Brolly | 5 | 41.1 | 8 | 114 | 9 | 4-6 | 12.67 | 2.77 | 27.44 | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | S Haslett | 5 | 36.3 | 7 | 123 | 9 | 3-14 | 13.67 | 3.37 | 24.33 | 5 | 3 |
| 4 | E Marshall | 4 | 25 | 3 | 64 | 4 | 1-13 | 16.00 | 2.56 | 37.50 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | D Murray | 5 | 23 | 3 | 85 | 4 | 2-21 | 21.25 | 3.70 | 34.50 | 11 | - |
| 6 | L Bates | 5 | 21 | 1 | 75 | 3 | 2-18 | 25.00 | 3.57 | 42.00 | 11 | - |
| 7 | R O'Brien | 5 | 10 | 2 | 29 | 1 | 1-29 | 29.00 | 2.90 | 60.00 | - | - |
| 8 | A Wankhade | 3 | 13 | - | 67 | 1 | 1-50 | 67.00 | 5.15 | 78.00 | 4 | - |
| 9 | B Whaley | 4 | 2 | - | 11 | - | 0-11 | - | 5.50 | - | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | L McKeown | 4 | 10 | - | 66 | - | 0-11 | - | 6.60 | - | 11 | - |
IRELAND BATTING STATS
| # | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R O'Brien | 5 | 5 | 1 | 129 | 58 | 32.25 | 97 | 132.99 | 1 | 16 | 7 |
| 2 | E Clarke | 4 | 4 | 1 | 88 | 68 | 29.33 | 125 | 70.40 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| 3 | D Murray | 5 | 3 | 3 | 85 | 70* | - | 123 | 69.11 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 4 | B Dunphy | 5 | 5 | - | 69 | 50 | 13.80 | 93 | 74.19 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 5 | S Haslett | 5 | 3 | 1 | 67 | 34 | 33.50 | 105 | 63.81 | - | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | E Marshall | 4 | 3 | 1 | 56 | 23* | 28.00 | 103 | 54.37 | - | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | S Yeates | 5 | 5 | - | 52 | 16 | 10.40 | 121 | 42.98 | - | 8 | - |
| 8 | L Bates | 5 | 1 | - | 49 | 49 | 49.00 | 45 | 108.89 | - | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | J West | 4 | 3 | - | 40 | 26 | 13.33 | 88 | 45.45 | - | 3 | - |
| 10 | L McKeown | 4 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 21* | 36.00 | 61 | 59.02 | - | 4 | 1 |
| 11 | B Whaley | 4 | 3 | - | 24 | 16 | 8.00 | 36 | 66.67 | - | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | P le Roux | 2 | 1 | - | 3 | 3 | 3.00 | 10 | 30.00 | - | - | - |
| 13 | A Wankhade | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | - | 3 | 33.33 | - | - | - |