Ireland consigned to last in Sri Lanka

Though Ireland lost, Paul Stirling confirmed his potential with 43 in an opening salvo with in-form Niall O'Brien

Paul Stirling and Niall O’Brien shared an opening stand of 104 in Ireland’s final Twenty20 Quadrangular series clash, but could not prevent a five-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka A in Colombo.

This reverse at the Sinhalese Sports Club today, coupled with Afghanistan’s win over Canada at the same venue, means Ireland finish bottom of the table, with winners Sri Lanka A chalking up a perfect record.

Ireland once again struggled in the field as they continued their build-up to the all-important World Twenty20 qualifying tournament in Dubai this month, failing to defend a challenging total of 174 for six.

There was further bad news with the announcement that first-choice seamer Boyd Rankin has been ruled out of that competition due to ongoing injury problems.

Opening pair Stirling and O’Brien got the ball rolling in positive fashion for Ireland, hitting 43 and 59 respectively. O’Brien’s knock was particularly impressive, containing as it did six boundaries and two sixes in just 38 deliveries.

But once those two departed only Gary Wilson, with 25 not out, made an impression as the home side wrested back some control.

Sri Lanka A eventually edged over the line with 10 balls to spare having lost their first five wickets inside 10 overs.

That brought Chinthaka Jayasinghe (41no) and Jeewan Mendis (29no) together and the pair put on an unbroken 68 for the sixth wicket to take the home side to 178 for five.

Alex Cusack took two wickets but was expensive, with Nigel Jones’ analysis of 4-0-22-1 the most economical.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan claimed their first win of the tournament by prevailing over Canada on the last ball.

Ashish Bagai’s 53 took the Canucks to 140 for six batting first. But Afghanistan, the ICC’s newest Associate member, responded in kind with a 66-run opening stand between Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali, and went past the winning post with a four.