The Ireland men’s national cricket team will face Bangladesh on Thursday in Dubai in their final warm-up match before the T20 World Cup.
Ireland will play two days after their eight-wicket thrashing of Papua New Guinea and will be looking to keep the momentum going as they head into the World Cup.
Bangladesh were overpowered by Sri Lanka in a similar fashion as the side fell to them by four wickets with one over to spare.
The Irish performance included some strong bowling courtesy of Craig Young, Mark Adair and Ben White, who kept the Zimbabwean target low.
Young made Ireland’s first breakthrough with the dismissal of Tony Ura for two in the second over, and Charles Amini then fell for four to Simi Singh in the final over of the powerplay.
Ben White fired in a wide delivery to have Bau stumped for 12 in the 12th over, and the leg-spinner removed Vala minutes later for his second.
Jason Kila was White’s final victim, bowled for two after failing to connect from his sweep.
Mark Adair and Young joined in on the fun of targeting the stumps, with the remaining three wickets in the innings all bowled.
Captain Andrew Balbirnie and Curtis Campher took Ireland home with a substantial unbeaten partnership of 71, with both batters finishing on 42 not out after the national side lost Kevin O’Brien and Gareth Delany in the powerplay.
While the Ireland captain was more patient in batting for 46 deliveries, Campher provided power, cracking three fours and two sixes during his 35-ball stay.
Ireland will look to improve further upon their game and head into the World Cup in the best shape possible.
Squads
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Joshua Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Benjamin White, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (C), Afif Hossain, Mohammad Nain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasum Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Shahim Hossain, Taksin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Nurul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das.
Match Info
The game will begin at 3 pm GMT and will be held in Dubai. Updates will be available throughout the match on the Cricket Ireland social media accounts.
