Ireland surged into the semi-finals of the Desert T20 Challenge, alongside Scotland, with a 24-run victory over hosts United Arab Emirates in Dubai.
William Porterfield’s team posted 160 for six, after he won the toss, thanks largely to big-hitting Kevin O’Brien’s 40 from 27 balls and his fourth-wicket stand of 53 with Gary Wilson.
Tall seamer Boyd Rankin then made short work of UAE’s top order with career-best T20I figures of three for 16, seeing off Rohan Mustafa lbw first ball and later putting himself on a hat-trick with the wickets of Ghulam Shabber and Rameez Shahzad for another golden duck.
By then, UAE had faltered to 15 for four in the third over.
Number seven Amjad Javed (47no) led a recovery in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 59 with Mohammad Naveed, after the top five had all been dismissed for single figures. But UAE never threatened a successful chase and finished on 136 for seven.
Scotland had already booked their place in the last four, with a match to spare, when they beat Holland by seven runs in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Both semi-finals and the final will be played in Dubai on Friday.
Desert T20, Dubai International Stadium
Ireland 160/6 (20 overs; K O’Brien 40, P Stirling 39, G Wilson 26, G Thompson 17, Amjad Javed 2-16, Zahoor Ahmed 2-27)
UAE 136/7 (20 overs; Amjad Javed 47*, Mohammed Naveed 25*, Mohammad Usman 24, B Rankin 3-16, J Mulder 2-20)
