Ireland march on after UAE scare

After the euphoria of Ireland’s successful overhaul of 305 against the West Indies, some blithely assumed that the UAE would meekly subside.

But that was reckoning without the huge improvements in cricket in the UAE in recent years. Just as Ireland have closed the gap on the weakest Test-playing nations, so other leading associates have narrowed the gap with Ireland.

That much should have been apparent far before this match. Scotland have become more competitive against Ireland, losing 2-1 across the Irish Sea in September and then thumping Ireland by 179 runs in a World Cup warm-up game in Sydney two weeks ago. Afghanistan, who came second to Ireland in the most recent associate level competitions in all three formats of the game, bested Ireland by 71 runs in the UAE last month, after a three-wicket defeat in the previous game between the sides.