Ireland win by sizeable margin

A half-century from Niall O'Brien and three wickets each from spinner George Dockrell and medium-pacer Alex Cusack helped Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 54 runs in a warm-up match in Colombo.

Ireland were sent in to bat and made a quick start before losing their openers in successive overs. Niall O'Brien and Ed Joyce steadied the innings with a 83-run stand, and Niall O'Brien carried on to score 62 off 49 balls. Kevin O'Brien provided the finishing touches by smacking 30 off 14 balls to lead Ireland to 181.

Boyd Rankin gave the defence the perfect start by trapping Vusi Sibanda lbw first ball, before Hamilton Masakadza's aggressive 44 off 27 balls powered Zimbabwe to 74 for 2 in the ninth over. Dockrell made the breakthrough by dismissing Masakadza and then got rid of Stuart Matsikenyeri the next ball. Cusack's double strike in the 10th over reduced Zimbabwe to 75 for 6 and they did not recover. Zimbabwe slipped to 83 for 8 before the ninth-wicket partnership led them to 127.