Ireland slip to defeat

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

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.