This match to decide third and fourth places was a sad disappointment for Ireland. For the ninth time in a row Scotland beat Ireland in Cap matches in limited overs cricket. Ireland had not won such a match since the first ever Triple Crown match at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1993. This current match resembled closely the Triple Crown match in Wales in 1996 when Ireland could not defend a score of 240. 242 was scored in today's match - a very good total in a 50 overs stint. 111 of these came in the first 30 overs and 131 off the last 20. For Scotland when Parsons was fifth out off the last ball of the 35th over the score stood at 147. 15 overs remained (90 balls) to score 96. Then came Williamson with 48 in 37 balls and Scotland had 10 balls to spare at the end.

Dunlop won his fourth toss of five in the Tournament and Ireland included three spinners leaving out Davy and Joyce. It was a sunny warm day with less breeze than usual. Patterson was injured and did not play for Scotland who also dropped Davies and gave the wicket-keeping job to Lockhart.

Despite his poor batting form McCallan went in with Carson but the former's poor form continued. He pushed forward to Brinkley in the third over and was bowled. 5-1-1. Smyth took 12 balls to score and then hit three fours from the next five balls he faced. From 12 in five overs the score went up to 32 in 10 from Brinkley and Steindl. Williamson was given two overs which cost 12 and 50 arrived in over 14. Wright came on for three overs which cost 16. Soon spinners Dyer and Sheridan were bowling in tandem. 82 was up in 20 overs and an average of four runs per over was maintained. Smyth cut at Dyer three times and was lucky not to get a snick. Smyth went to his 50 in the 25th over out of 97 and 100 was up in the next over. Then, in the 27th over, Carson went down the pitch, head up, and was bowled by Sheridan for a well made 40 from 79 balls. With Gillespie in this was a period in which scoring slowed and, perhaps, prevented a score of about 270.

Smyth was lucky to get a four over extra cover's head off Dyer and gave cover a hard right handed chance in the same over. From 101 in 26 overs the score only got to 119 after 33 overs. Then Gillespie was out for four in 17 balls in the 34th over. He drove Dyer hard to mid-off. In came J. Molins to play by far his best innings for Ireland. In his 15th match and 16th innings he scored 70 from 60 balls with 11 fours and was not out at the end. He took six balls to score his first run and then hit three fours in nine balls. His driving and pick up shots were superb. Smith, an occasional off spinner, was given the 36th over. His first three balls were no-balls, the fourth a wide and the eighth another no-ball. the over cost 14. After the 37th over at 142 Dyer and Sheridan were bowled out. Stanger was given two overs (the eighth bowler used) which cost 12. 150 came up in over 39. Steindl was also back and after 40 overs the score was 158.

The last 10 overs, bowled by five different bowlers, yielded 84 runs and Smyth's wicket, seven runs short of a second century for Ireland. He scored a 90 for the second time. The rate moved above a par of four per over in the 42nd over. The 44th over (Steindl) saw 12 scored but Smyth was out in the 45th. He was lbw to Williamson when he stepped across and missed. 190-3-93. His 93 came off 127 balls in 151 minutes and he hit eight fours, six of them before he reached 50. His stand of 70 with Molins came in only 11 overs.

Dunlop arrived and the score was 191 after 45 overs. No more wickets fell and 51 runs were scored in those five overs, 35 in the last three. At 204 in the 47th over Molins went to 50 with two successive fours. In the last 13 balls he faced he scored 28 and only failed to score off one. Dunlop did his part. He faced 14 balls to score 18 and only failed to score once. He was dropped by the bowler, Williamson, in the 49th over off a very high return catch. The last over (Brinkley) added 14 with fours to both batsmen.

Scotland used eight bowlers. Only the two spinners, Dyer and Sheridan, bowled the full stint of 10 overs and, jointly, they only conceded 60 runs. 242 was a formidable total but good Scottish batting, an onslaught by Williamson when all seemed lost for Scotland, plus a poor umpiring decision undid the Irish.

Cooke's first ball to "pinch hitter" Brinkley was a wide. The second was snicked to the wicket-keeper. Nothing daunted Lockhart and Smith scored very quickly against Cooke and Eagleson. 25 was up in five overs and 50 appeared in the ninth over. Eagleson bowled three overs for 21 and Dwyer appeared for the eighth over. As usual he took an early wicket. Smith stepped back to force and was bowled off his pads. 53-2-27. Salmond came in and kept up the scoring rate. Dwyer bowled four overs and Eagleson came back for him - a surprise. Cooke bowled eight overs for 41 and was replaced by G. Molins. 86 was on the board after only 15 overs and the score was exactly 100 after 19 overs. Ireland needed wickets quickly. McCallan was the fifth bowler and he took the next wicket at 113. Lockhart (38) pushed across and was lbw in the 24th over. With Parsons in scoring slowed against Molins and McCallan. Salmond reached 50 in the 29th over. Then Dwyer came back for Molins (20 runs in seven overs) and took wickets in successive overs.

With the scoring rate declining pressure came on the Scottish batsmen. Salmond (57) cut uppishly and was caught at deep gully at 144. Then Parsons clipped a Dwyer floater to mid-wicket. 35 overs had now gone and the score was 147 for five. 96 were needed in 15 overs and Ireland were confident. In the next McCallan over, when new batsman Williamson was only one, the players felt that he was clearly stumped off a wide. It was given not out and this was crucial. In overs 37 and 39 Wi1liamson struck two massive sixes off Dwyer. The score was 179 after 40 overs 16th with 64 required in 10 overs. McCallan was finished (one for 35) and Molins replaced him for over 42. 15 came off this over with two more straight sixes by Williamson and this sealed Ireland's fate. Now 45 were needed in eight overs.

Eagleson and Cooke came back but could not stem the tide because Stanger was also scoring very quickly getting singles from almost every ball be faced. 200 was up in over 43 and Cooke's last over yielded 11 including four wides. With 12 required in three overs Gillespie came on. Williamson missed a pull at his first ball and was lbw for 48 scored off 37 balls with four sixes and one four. His stand with Stanger was worth 84 in over 12 overs. Three fours in the next seven balls finished the match with 10 balls to spare.This was an excellent Scottish display.

Holland won the Trophy by beating Denmark easily in the final. Ireland finished fourth and England had to play Italy, the top team in division two - Italy won! A century by Scuderi, Italy's South Australian, won the match for Italy who chased 243 to win.