Alastair Cook celebrated his England call-up for this week's Test against Sri Lanka in fine style as he destroyed Ireland in the C&G Trophy at Chelmsford.
The 21-year-old left-hander struck an unbeaten 91 from 106 deliveries as Essex coasted to an eight wicket C&G Trophy win with six of their 43 overs to spare.
Earlier, Ireland found themselves firmly on the back foot by the end of the sixth over of the innings, although they eventually reached 192.
In a shaky start the hosts lost three wickets as Tony Palladino, twice, and Andre Adams made their presence felt.
Both got the ball to swing and seam quite considerably to leave the visitors 20 for three.
The poor start left Eoin Morgan and Botha to adopt a cautious approach in their attempt to repair the innings.
The duo succeeded to the extent that they added 79, although it took them 22 overs to gather those runs before Morgan became the first of Ryan ten Doeschate's four victims.
Ireland had hoped Afridi would give them momentum.
He started by pulling off-spinner James Middlebrook for six from the first ball he received but he holed out to square leg from his fourth delivery to provide ten Doeschate with another success.
It was left to Botha, with the help of a few lusty blows from the tail, to give the Irish total an air of respectability.
Botha made 64 from 100 deliveries, five of which he despatched to the boundary, and it was while seeking a sixth that he was bowled by Middlebrook.
It was a valiant effort but it soon became obvious when Essex replied, it was never going to be a match-winning one, despite Ireland succeeding in removing Irani early on.
Ten Doeschate emerged with four for 49 which Palladino and Middlebrook claimed two for 21 and two for 46 respectively.
