Jon Long, ICC
Hosts Ireland will play Scotland in the final of the ICC Trophy Ireland 2005 on Wednesday 13 July at Clontarf near Dublin.
Ireland today beat Canada by four wickets at Clontarf while Scotland beat Bermuda by six wickets at The Hills. Neither side has previously won the ICC Trophy.
The final ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying spot will be awarded to the team that finishes fifth in the ICC Trophy. Holland and United Arab Emirates will play-off for fifth place at Clontarf on Monday after beating Denmark and Namibia today.
Ireland v Canada
Peter Gillespie and Andrew White hit Ireland to victory in a tense ICC Trophy semi-final against Canada at Clontarf. With the run-rate mounting, Gillespie struck a six and a four from consecutive deliveries in the 48th over before White completed the win with a six from the second ball of the final over.
White, who was also at the crease when Ireland beat West Indies and Surrey, finished on 28 not out while man-of-the-match Gillespie was unbeaten on 64.
Canada were put in to bat and skipper John Davison began in his usual aggressive style. Stepping down the wicket from his first delivery, Davison tore into the opening overs from Trent Johnston and Paul Mooney. After surviving an inside edge and a slice through the slips, Davison's good fortune ran out when he was trapped leg before wicket for 33 in the fifth over.
Fellow opener Desmond Chumney and number three Zubin Surkari built on this platform to take Canada to 89 in 15 overs. But when Surkari was out for 31 with the score on 114 it precipitated a collapse. Two further wickets fell without a run being added - key batsman Ian Billcliff caught behind from his first delivery and Chumney clean bowled by Kyle McCallan for 35.
Ireland had the chances to further capitalise on this strong position but two dropped catches allowed Sunil Dhaniram and Pubudu Dassanayake to prosper. The pair put on 56 for the fifth wicket before Dhaniram was bowled for 35.
Ireland regained control in the final overs but Canada's total of 239 for nine was competitive in conditions conducive to swing.
Ireland's top order batsmen struggled for form in the group stage of the event and without the tournament's leading scorer Ed Joyce, who has returned to play County Cricket for Middlesex, the pressure was on to make a positive start.
Jeremy Bray failed to make a mark at his home club. He was out for 10 with the score on 12. Eoin Morgan followed 29 runs later for 20 and, though captain Jason Mollins made a personal tournament best of 44, Ireland were pegged back to 106 for five.
Trent Johnson led the Irish recovery but when he was caught in the deep for 44 to become Kevin Sander's third victim, Ireland were left needing a run a ball with only four wickets in hand.
To the relief of the enthusiastic crowd, Gillespie and White held their nerve to guide Ireland to a victory which leaves the tournament hosts on the verge of their greatest ever cricket achievement.
Scotland v Bermuda
In the second semi-final Bermuda elected to bat against Scotland after winning the toss at The Hills. It soon looked to be an unwise choice as they struggled to 26 for three. Scotland's leading wicket-taker Paul Hoffman was the spearhead as only Albert Steede of Bermuda's top seven batsmen made double figures.
Not for the first time in this tournament, Bermuda's innings was rescued by the controlled hitting of Dean Minors and Lionel Cann. When Cann joined Minors at the crease Bermuda were heading for humiliation at 88 for seven. But 45 from 38 balls for Cann and 53 not out for Minors lifted the surprise semi-finalists to 219 for nine from 50 overs.
Scotland had a shaky start to their reply and pinch-hitter Hoffman was one of three Scotsmen back in the pavilion with the score on 52. The Scottish batting line-up, though, has strength in depth and Gavin Hamilton and Cedric English found their form at an opportune time. Both Hamilton and English made their first half-centuries of the tournament to shepherd Scotland to safety. Hamilton was caught out for 59 but English remained unbeaten on 75 as Scotland won by six wickets.
On Wednesday Scotland will be aiming for its second international cricket triumph in 10 months to complement the inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup victory in UAE last November.
Other matches
Holland moved to within one match of the ICC Cricket World Cup finals in thrashing Denmark by 89 runs. The Dutch were unlucky to miss out on automatic qualification from Group B of the tournament but bounced back with determination. Bas Zuiderent and Dan van Bunge both hit centuries as Holland amassed 314 for 6 in 50 overs.
Denmark did not get close in their reply and were bowled out in the final over for 225. Freddie Klokker, back in action for his country after a flying visit to England, showed his individual class with 52 runs.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ended Namibia's dream of a second consecutive appearance at the ICC Cricket World Cup. Gerry Synman contributed 82 not out to a competitive Namibia target of 240 for seven in 50 overs but UAE produced their best batting performance of the tournament to reach the target with 18 balls to spare.
Syed Maqsood and Khuram Khan were the key men for UAE. Maqsood finished not out on 84 while Khan made a crucial 92-run contribution.
In the play-off matches for ninth to 12th place, USA picked up its first victory of the tournament in beating Papua New Guinea by eight wickets and Oman beat Uganda by six runs.