The weather for the match was dry but somewhat chilly. The wicket was slower than one would expect probably by virtue of being watered too late and rolled when still wet.
Ireland won the toss and Pigot and O'Brien got Ireland away to a brisk start, 11 coming off two overs bowled by N Owen and Griffiths. 27 were put on in 39 minutes. Then Griffiths beat and bowled Pigot with a slower ball. 27-1-15. Harrison came in and was bogged down. O'Brien gave Pressdee a chance at leg slip when 30 with the total on 47, and Harrison hit a long hot from Slade to mid wicket where Claydon made a good effort to catch it. The first hour produced 46. Then O'Brien took nine off one over by Wood and ran to his first half-century for Ireland out of 74 in 104 minutes. At lunch the score was 83, O'Brien 55, Harrison 10.
After lunch O'Brien pulled legspinner Clayton for six and then was caught at short square leg off bat and pad from the offspinner R Owens. 95-2-63. Anderson came in and scored 25 briskly in a stand of 41. At 120 Pressdee came on as the seventh bowler used. He looked the best. At 136 Anderson did not get to the pitch off Pressdee and was caught at cover. O'Riordan scored 10 out of 23. Then he hit Owens onto his boot and then to Slade at short leg. 159-4-10. Harte came in and opened with a four along the ground through mid-wicket. At 179 Harrison at last reached 50 scored in 155 minutes. By tea the score was 204-4 in four hours, Harrison 67, Harte 17. Harte was lucky at 168 when he was five. He was dropped at long on by Wood off Pressdee.
Quick runs were looked for after tea. Harte hit a six and a four but was LBW for 33 with the score at 227 to Griffiths, the new ball having been taken. Monteith came next to try to boost the rate. At around 5 PM however there was a period of six overs for only five runs. O'Riordan waived for action and the tempo increased. In an hour in all Harrison and Monteith added 70. With a boundary Harrison went to his century in 270 minutes - his first century in any grade of cricket. Much credit is due to him because, while not in form, he refused to throw his wicket away. Ireland declared at six o'clock on 297-5, with Harrison 111 not out. Wales bowled 110 overs - a splendid rate - but they lacked penetration.
Wales batting at Rathmines
At 6:10 PM Wales faced 50 minutes batting. O'Riordan bowled three overs and then gave way to Monteith. Goodwin bowled five overs and had Dow dropped at slip by Harte in his first over. Duffy replaced Goodwin and the two slow bowlers took three wickets before the close. At 15 Jones did not get to the pitch of Monteith and was caught at mid-on by new cap, Elder. This was Monteith's 100th wicket for Ireland. He is the seventh bowler to reach this mark. JC Boucher did so in 20 matches, Monteith and W Harrington both in 25. Nine minutes later, and with the score still at 15, Howells was LBW to Monteith on the front foot. In the last over of the day Dow misdrove Duffy to Goodwin at extra cover. 19-3, Slade four.
Next day began under grey skies and a breeze. The Welsh collapse was never stemmed, although Wood did his best, and by 6:34 PM Wales were out twice and beaten. Early drizzle had dampened the wicket and the faster bowlers, O'Riordan and Goodwin, bowled for an hour. At 23 Slade (eight) mis-hooked a long hop from O'Riordan straight to Goodwin at deep square leg. Wood and Pressdee took the score to 40. Meanwhile, the 6'4" Elder had his first bowl for Ireland. He was fast and awkward to play but did not use his great height. At 40 he made one leap off a length to Pressdee. Monteith dived to his right at backward short leg and took a good two-handed catch. 40-5-11. Wood and R Owens now added 33. Rain delayed play for eight minutes. Monteith and Duffy were now in harness and remained so until the innings ended. At 73 Ward (23) was caught at extra cover misdriving Monteith and Owens (14) was caught at second slip by a ball from Duffy which drifted away. Lunch came at 74-7. At 75 Clayton was LBW to Monteith. Griffiths struck out and scored all 17 runs put on for the ninth wicket. Then Monteith took the last two wickets in successive balls. Griffiths was caught at deep mid-wicket by Pigot who juggled it and Davies was stumped when. In 69 overs Wales had scored 92 and Monteith had 6-16 in 19.4 overs. Duffy, in 20 overs, had 2-22.
At 2:56 PM Wales followed on 205 behind. The first ball of the innings was a head high sharp chance to O'Brien at leg slip by D Jones off O'Riordan - it went down. 20 were scored in 40 minutes. Then Dow was caught at short leg off Goodwin. Monteith appeared with the score on 27 but Jones and Howells were playing well. In his third over Jones hit Monteith for two fours, came down the wicket next ball and was stumped. 49-2-29. 49 was also the tea score.
Four wickets fell for 16 runs after tea and this destroyed Wales. At 62 Howells was out to a fine one-handed catch by Goodwin at extra cover off Monteith; at 69 Griffiths (promoted) was bowled by Monteith - the first time the stumps were hit since Pigot was out; at 73 Slade was LBW while sitting on the ground having swung at Monteith; at 78 Pressdee was caught at extra cover mis-driving Duffy. Wood now played well and Clayton kept company. The former was missed by Colhoun off Monteith, a stumping chance. 100 came up but at 106 Clayton advanced to Duffy and was caught at mid-off. Next over Harrison repeated his catch to dismiss Wood (43) off Monteith. Monteith also took the last two and finished with 6-40 in 25.3 overs. Duffy had 3-23 in 17 overs.
This is the fourth time Monteith has taken 10 or more wickets in a match (and this in the span of seven matches in which he played). Only Boucher (seven) and Lawrence (five) have done this more often. The wicket certainly took Monteith's spin but slowly. Wales batted badly and never adjusted to a three-day match. Monteith has now taken five or more wickets in an innings 10 times - a number only bettered by JC Boucher (31), RH Lambert (12) and C Lawrence (11) Ireland have now an unbeaten run of nine matches (4 won 5 drawn). This equals the non-losing sequence set up from 1931 to 1935.
15 players to tour USA and Canada in September for three weeks were chosen after this match. Monteith was not available to go on the tour. The other 10 who played against Wales were selected, plus A Linehan, PJ Dineen, WI Lewis, M Halliday and R Torrens. Torrens, who had previously retired because he did not wish to play on Sundays, is now prepared to play on that day. The surprise perhaps was the leaving out of JG Crothers, an original choice against Wales.