Gary Niblock
Ireland made it 2 wins out of 2 in ICC Trophy Group A with a comfortable 127 run win over Uganda at the Green, Comber.
Uganda won the toss and put Ireland in to bat, a move that probably did not disappoint home captain Jason Molins toomuch as it gave his side the chance to bat 50 overs and set a total. Ireland started solidly enough, putting on 20 for the first wicket but some good bowling from the Africans reduced them to 60/3. This brought to the crease the stars of Friday and the two Middlesex batsmen Morgan and Joyce set about putting Ireland in a commanding position.
The left handed pair batted positively and Joyce in particular playing a cover drive and straight drive that had "future England player" written all over them. That said, Ireland were 155/5 with 9 overs to go and the job clearly was not done yet. In came Andrew White of Northants, returning to the club where he made a real name for himself and after him Ireland's Freddie Flintoff, Trent Johnston.
They complemented each other well and pushed Ireland well past 200 - making a good score of 231 in the 50 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. Johnston was especially brutal and it was his knock in particular that gave Ireland the momentum they needed to carry over into the field. Uganda's fielding pleasantly surprised the sizeable Comber crowd in the field. Kenny Kamyuka bowled well up front and had a number of appeals turned down. He came back at the end and took 3 Irish middle order wickets and unquestionably deserved his 4/42, his second successive 4 wicket haul.
His opening partner left armer Waiswa looked impressive as well and the change bowlers with the exception of skipper Olwenyi all proved fairly frugal. Although hit for a huge straight 6 onto the top pitch by Johnston, off spinner Nsubuga bowled straight and with a flat trajectory - giving little chance for the Irish batsmen to free their arms. The fielding was also impressive with a number of good diving stops and fine catches taken - it is a feature of the smaller sides who know they can't compete in the disciplines of batting and bowling.
Sadly, the Ugandan batting was not up to much - although with their failure to chase down less than 200 against Denmark, it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Ireland ran through the top order like a knife through butter. Man of the match Paul Mooney may not have been everyone's first choice before this tournament but certainly justfied coach Adi Birrell's faith with a sterling display - finishing with an excellent analysis of 10-4-10-3. Johnston rounded off a personal good all round match with 2 wickets of his own and third seamer McCoubrey took 3 including the dangerous Kamyuka. The highlight for the Ugandans was the entertaining 50 from spinner Frank Nsubuga, which came from 54 balls and included 5 monster sixes. Kyle McCallan was the bowler to suffer.
At the presentation, both cricket boards exchanged memorative plaques, Uganda's being in the shape of their country and I wish to echo the sentiments of their manager in hoping this is the start of a good relationship between the ICU and Ugandan Cricket Association. Ireland played fairly well without ever really being stretched too much. The pitch did keep low on the odd occasion but it was another excellent surface here at the Green as many NCU batsmen will testify. Uganda showed promise in the first half of the game but their batting was outclassed by the pace attack of Ireland - something that will have to step up to the plate against stronger batting line ups.
Uganda will be back at Comber on Tuesday to play Bermuda who pulled off a major shock beating the UAE by 40 runs. Denmark also shocked the USA with a commanding win - Frederik Klokker striking an unbeaten 138, carrying his bat. Scotland, Holland and Namibia all won as expected. The hosts now move on, after a rest day, to their toughest match on paper, UAE at Stormont.