Ireland Miss England in Sri Lanka

Ireland beat Afghanistan by five wickets to win the World Twenty20 qualifying event and avoid England at the tournament proper in Sri Lanka.

With the Irish chasing 153 to win, Paul Stirling hit the second-fastest half-century in Twenty20 international history, from only 17 deliveries.

His 79 helped Ireland home with seven balls to spare in Dubai.

They join Australia and West Indies in Group B, with Afghanistan, India and defending champions England in Group A.

Ireland had beaten Namibia earlier in the day in the preliminary final to book their trip to Sri Lanka in September.

With a place at their second successive World T20 at stake, William Porterfield's men restricted the African side 94-6, seamer Max Sorensen taking 2-8.

The Irish then needed only 61 balls to reach their target, Stirling plundering a 32-ball 59 for his first half-century of the day.

With Ireland and Afghanistan now both assured of a place in tournament with the Test-playing nations, the two sides met in the qualifying event final to determine where they will be placed in the main draw.

The Afghans, previously unbeaten in the qualifiers, were indebted to Mohammad Shahzad's 77 for their total of 152-7, as Kevin O'Brien picked up 2-18 for Ireland.

Ireland lost Porterfield, bowled by paceman Dawlat Zadran, from the first ball of their reply before Stirling went on the offensive.

His 38-ball stay included nine fours and a six as he added 80 for the third wicket with Gary Wilson (32).

"I think we came out positively," said Stirling. "Afghanistan has strong bowling, they've got one of the strongest team attacks in the tournament. The wicket suited my style.

"It was my first time playing under lights and tonight showed that the runs go up when you play later in the day."

Stirling and O'Brien fell in successive balls to Zadran, leaving Wilson to steady the ship and Andrew Poynter (23) to hit the winning runs.

"It's really pleasing to win a trophy," said Porterfield. "Ten games unbeaten is a fantastic effort from the lads.

"It's a long way to go now to the World Twenty20. Playing against Australia and the West Indies is going to be a tough task. We've got to keep working hard and improving our skills."

The win adds to the recent success enjoyed by the Irish, who have scored wins over Pakistan and England at the last two 50-over World Cups.

In January, Ireland announced that they plan to apply to the International Cricket Council for Test status.

Stirling Work Gets Ireland World T20

Ireland raced to nine-wicket victory over Namibia with 61 balls to spare as they booked their place in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka.

Ireland restricted Namibia to just 94-6, and then knocked off the required runs in double quick time to reach the final of the qualifying tournament.

They will now play Afghanistan on Saturday to determine which group they will play in - with a defeat meaning they would face England in September.

Ireland had lost by four runs to Namibia in the group stage of this competition, but Saturday's result rarely looked in much doubt once they began their reply.

They could not quite match their own achievement of twice chasing down targets without losing a wicket in this tournament as William Porterfield went for 20, caught well by Sarel Burger off Louis Klazinger.

However, fellow opener Paul Stirling carried Ireland through to the finish with 59 off 32 balls, smacking a four off the first delivery of the 11th over to win it.

Victims

Earlier, Ireland had taken wickets at a steady clip to prevent Namibia building any rhythm.

Trent Johnston accounted for openers Raymond van Schoon (1) and Louis van der Westhuizen (14) and when Craig Williams became the first of Max Sorensen's two victims, having made just three, Namibia were on 25-3 with seven overs already gone.

They continued to score at well under a run a ball as Gerrie Snyman made just 17 off 39 deliveries and Sorensen then had Burger caught for 20 - helping him to figures of 2-8 off his four overs.

Ian Opperman did his best to up the scoring with an unbeaten 26 off 15 balls, including one six, late on, but Namibia were only delaying the inevitable.

Ireland Lose Despite Stirling Work

Ireland suffered a 21-run defeat by Eastern Province in South Africa in their latest warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20 qualifiers next week.

Eastern Province totalled 148-3 from their 20 overs with James Price and Michael Smith unbeaten on 42 and 47.

Ireland were ahead of the run rate early on but collapsed from 75-2 in the 11th over to 127 all out in the final over in Port Elizabeth.

William Porterfield top-scored with 48 with Kevin O'Brien next best on 19.

Gary Wilson [12] and Ed Joyce [15] were the only other Irish batsmen to get into double figures.

Sisonda Magala dismissed dangerman O'Brien and took three other Irish wickets.

As the Irish bowlers struggled, Andrew White took two wickets with George Dockrell the only other wicket-taker.

Paul Stirling's unbeaten 110 from just 67 balls had helped the Irish beat an Eastern Province Invitational XI on Monday.

Stirling was left out of the Irish line-up for Tuesday's game.

Ireland now depart for the United Arab Emirates to participate in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifers which start on 13 March.

Stirling Work Sees Ireland Win Again

An impressive all-round performance by Paul Stirling helped Ireland complete a convincing eight wicket win in their second T20 international in Mombasa.

Stirling struck nine boundaries in his unbeaten 65 from just 52 balls, to help Ireland make light of a potentially tricking 132 target.

Skipper William Porterfield showled glimpses of a return to form with a breezy 23 from 22 balls (3 fours, 1 six) as he and Stirling shared an opening stand of 63 in 7.2 overs to put Ireland firmly in control.

Although Kevin O'Brien (9) went cheaply, Gary Wilson scored a run a ball 22 to help Ireland win with 15 balls to spare.

Earlier David Obuya (28), Patel (27) and Alex Obanda (14*) all got starts in an improved Kenyan batting display, but their total of 131 for 7 provided little difficulty for the Irish batsmen.

Paul Stirling (2-21) was the pick of the attack, with the other wicket takers being John Mooney (1-19), Kevin O'Brien (1-19), George Dockrell (1-23) and Max Sorensen (1-30).

Andrew White was given the honour of leading the Ireland side out onto the field on the occasion of his 200th appearance for Ireland, but given their complete domination didn't feature with either bat or ball.

The win keeps Ireland in 9th position in the ICC rankings, and their tour of Kenya concludes tomorrow when they play the third T20 international at the earlier time of 8am (GMT).