Rankin back with a bang

Boyd Rankin picked up seven wickets against Namibia © Getty Images

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Back in May, Ireland fast bowler Boyd Rankin was told he could be out for the rest of the year as he prepared to go under the knife to remedy a serious shoulder injury.

But three months after the operation he was back taking wickets for the Warwickshire first team and over the past few days he has been terrifying Namibia’s batsmen with his extra bounce during what turned out to be a remarkable ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Windhoek.

His seven wickets in the match, including a career best 5-39 in the second innings, made sure Ireland snatched a barely believable eight-run victory over the previously unbeaten Namibia side.

The victory means that if Ireland can win against Kenya next week whilst also avoiding a first-innings deficit, they will make it through to the final.

If that happens, they would again face Namibia in a repeat of this thrilling, albeit low-scoring, encounter.

It was a strange match which saw all 40 wickets falling inside two days and no batsman from either side managed to make it to 30.

“The scorecard suggests it was a bad pitch to bat on,” said the 6ft 7in Rankin. “But that’s not the case. The truth is that we just didn’t bat very well and we had to pull it back with our bowling.”

Having collapsed to 69 all out the first time around, Ireland managed to struggle to 164 on the second time of asking, giving them a lead of 114 and an outside chance of victory.

Peter Connell (3-49) and Rankin (5-39) shared eight of the 10 wickets between them as Namibia crumbled under the pressure.

Former skipper Trent Johnston picked up two crucial wickets towards the end but fittingly it was Rankin who wrapped the match up as he had Kola Burger caught by Kyle McCallan for six, just nine runs short of what would have been their seventh straight win in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Trent Johnston took two of the three last wickets in the match

“When I was injured, it was a very frustrating time for me," Rankin admitted. "Immediately after the operation I went home to Ireland for three weeks which helped but the rest of the time was spent in rehab and doing gym work.

"It was quite boring because all I wanted to do was get back out there and start bowling again.

“They told me it could take more than six months to get back to bowling but I did it in three. Now I feel I am bowling reasonably well – there is still some pain in the shoulder but the more I bowl, the stronger it is getting.

"It was a great feeling to be able to come back and win this match and keep our hopes alive in the competition.

“Working with Allan Donald at Warwickshire has been great. He doesn’t seek to make many technical changes during the season – that’s more for the winter.

"It’s more about the mental side of the game, how to work a batsman over, how to think more about the game, how to work batsmen out and take more wickets.

“It’s great to work with the likes of Allan. He was one of the best bowlers in the world and I am really learning a lot from him.”

Ireland have now stretched their unbeaten run in this competition to 13 matches, a record dating back to 2004. At present, they sit 10 points behind Kenya on the ladder with that final head-to-head being the last match in this year’s event bar the final.

That means Ireland need to be level or ahead on first innings and then follow it up with victory to make it through to another decider.

“We now head to Nairobi full of confidence. It was crucial that we beat Namibia and now if we can beat Kenya we will be in another final. This win has really given us a boost,” said Rankin.

Meanwhile, Kenya can get through to their second final in the history of this competition just by taking the first-innings points.