Ireland beat Papua New Guinea by eight wickets in a T20 warm-up game to practice for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Papua New Guinea made just 96 runs for eight wickets in twenty overs courtesy of Assad Vala’s 32 runs off 38 balls. For Ireland, Craig Young claimed three wickets for 19 runs while Ben White conceded just ten runs for his three wickets.
In reply, despite losing Kevin O’Brian and Gareth Delany early, Andy Balbirnie and Curtis Campher nailed the chase for Irish men without much pressure. Andy and Curtis both made 42 runs apiece to claim the comfortable victory with 20 balls to spare.
In the First Round of the T20 World Cup, Papua New Guinea is grouped alongside Oman, Bangladesh, and Scotland. Meanwhile, Ireland will compete against Sri Lanka, Namibia, and the Netherlands. Two teams from each group will advance to the main round to join the top-eight ranked teams.