Cricket:Ireland showed signs of rustiness as they went down by two wickets to a strong Eastern Province XI at the ABSA Oval in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

The Irish were taking the field for the first time since last August, and the lack of action was clearly evident in a poor batting display.

Only opener Jeremy Bray, who has been playing competitively in Australia during the winter, provided any sort of resistance. The left-hander struck six boundaries in a well-made 43, but Peter Gillespie (14), was the only other Irishman to reach double figures.

Ireland made just 133, with Andrew Birch, 3-17, and Siyabulela Nkosana, 3-19, doing the damage, as the Irish could only bat 38.4 overs.

The Irish, however, fought back strongly with the ball, as the opening pairing of Trent Johnston and Dave Langford-Smith made early inroads into the Eastern Province top order.

Johnston had the impressive figures of four for 42, while Langford-Smith took two wickets for 42.

Boyd Rankin and Paul Mooney also each picked up a wicket in a fine seam bowling display.

The two-wicket win was due mainly to 36 from Rikki Wessels of Northants, and 28 from Birch, which capped a fine, all-round performance.

Irish coach Adrian Birrell said of the loss, "Obviously it's disappointing to lose, but I was pleased with the attitude shown in the field. We didn't score enough runs, and our lack of competitive cricket was evident. Despite only making 133, we made them fight all the way, and could have won it.

"We play the same opposition tomorrow, and I'll be looking for improvements in the batting department. If we can get more runs on the board, I'd be confident of reversing this result."