Porterfield leads Ireland to T20 warm-up win over Hong Kong

Skipper William Porterfield hit an unbeaten 75 from just 36 deliveries as Ireland beat Hong Kong by 10 wickets in their first World Twenty 20 warm-up game in Dharamsala, India.

Fellow opener Andrew Balbirnie was no slouch either, hitting 47 not out from 38 balls as Ireland chased down a victory target of 121 in the 13th over.

Ireland’s task would have been even easier but for Mark Chapman’s unbeaten 64 after Hong Kong won the toss and batted in the 15-a-side match.

Tim Murtagh took two wickets in his first over, while Max Sorensen also struck in his first over as Hong Kong were reduced to six for three.

Chapman and Nizakat Khan staged a recovery of sorts by adding 41 for the fourth wicket before Khan was bowled by Boyd Rankin for 18.

Hong Kong struggled to hit boundaries throughout their innings until and Chapman hit three fours in the final over off Sorensen, 16 runs coming off the final six balls of the innings.

Balbirnie got Ireland off to a fast start with two boundaries while Porterfield was somewhat subdued until after the powerplay when he hit two sixes and two fours in four balls.

Ireland motored on from there, Porterfield hitting his 50 from 26 balls and going on to hit 10 fours and four sixes to lead his side home.

Ireland play their second and final warm-up game against Zimbabwe at the same venue on Friday ahead of the tournament proper, where they will play Oman, Bangladesh and the Netherlands for a place in the main stage of the tournament.