Ireland Beaten By PNG In Thriller

Irelands cricketers slumped to a shock two wicket loss against a jubilant Papua New Guinea side at Stormont in their latest T20 World Cup Qualifying game.

Norman Vanua proved the PNG hero - with 30 required from three overs and just two wickets remaining, he clobbered four sixes in an unbeaten 28 from just 11 balls to secure a famous win with seven balls to spare.

John Mooney (2-38) bore the brunt of the assault - 20 runs coming off the first five balls of the penultimate over - as a stunned Ireland lost their first T20 qualifying game in 22 attempts - the last one coming back in 2012 against Namibia in Dubai.

The recalled Tyrone Kane (3-19) and Kevin O'Brien (2-11) both bowled superbly - backed up by a vibrant fielding display - as the Irish looked defend a modest total of 123 for 9.

Skipper William Porterfield defied the early competition trend by opting to bat first, and may have soon regretted it as the Irish struggled in helpful bowling conditions against a rampant PNG attack.

Wickets tumbled at regular intervals as Willie Gavera (3-17) proved a real handful on the difficult track.

Porterfield alone stood tall against the Pacific Islanders, whose whoops of joy grew ever louder as each wicket fell.

The Irish captain top scored with an unbeaten 57 from 58 balls (4 fours, 1 six) helping the total to 123 for 9.

Alex Cusack's late cameo saw him strike 13 from just four balls, while Gary Wilson (10) was the only other player to reach double figures in a batting display to forget.

Ireland's defeat means that they they will now be depending on other results to get the automatic qualification slot that goes to the group victors.

They may well have to depend on the lottery of the play-off system, where they would most likely face either Scotland or The Netherlands in the first instance.
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Ireland's next game is against Hong Kong - that fixture takes place at Malahide on Friday (2.15pm).

T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER GROUP A

At Stormont,

IRELAND 123/9 (20 overs, W Porterfield 57*, W Gavera 3-17

PNG 124/8 (18.5 overs, A Vala 32, N Vanua 28*, T Kane 3-19, K O'Brien 2-11, J Mooney 2-38)

PNG beat Ireland by 2 wickets