Ireland ease into Desert T20 semi-finals with win over UAE

Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling top scored in an impressive batting performance

Ireland surged into the semi-finals of the Desert T20 Challenge, alongside Scotland, with a 24-run victory over hosts United Arab Emirates in Dubai.

William Porterfield’s team posted 160 for six, after he won the toss, thanks largely to big-hitting Kevin O’Brien’s 40 from 27 balls and his fourth-wicket stand of 53 with Gary Wilson.

Tall seamer Boyd Rankin then made short work of UAE’s top order with career-best T20I figures of three for 16, seeing off Rohan Mustafa lbw first ball and later putting himself on a hat-trick with the wickets of Ghulam Shabber and Rameez Shahzad for another golden duck.

By then, UAE had faltered to 15 for four in the third over.

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Number seven Amjad Javed (47no) led a recovery in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 59 with Mohammad Naveed, after the top five had all been dismissed for single figures. But UAE never threatened a successful chase and finished on 136 for seven.

Scotland had already booked their place in the last four, with a match to spare, when they beat Holland by seven runs in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Both semi-finals and the final will be played in Dubai on Friday.

Desert T20, Dubai International Stadium

Ireland 160/6 (20 overs; K O’Brien 40, P Stirling 39, G Wilson 26, G Thompson 17, Amjad Javed 2-16, Zahoor Ahmed 2-27)

UAE 136/7 (20 overs; Amjad Javed 47*, Mohammed Naveed 25*, Mohammad Usman 24, B Rankin 3-16, J Mulder 2-20)