William Porterfield struck a century as Ireland overcame Tony Ura’s remarkable innings of 151 to beat Papua New Guinea by four wickets and bolster their World Cup qualification hopes.
Skipper Porterfield led from the front, hitting 111 to help his side overhaul a victory target of 236 with five balls remaining in Harare.
Ed Joyce provided assistance with 53, sharing a third-wicket stand of 108 with Porterfield, to ensure Ireland put themselves in pole position for the Super Sixes with a second win from as many qualifiers.
Ireland were in complete control after winning the toss and reducing PNG to 116 for seven in the 33rd over, but Ura kept his side in the game with a remarkable 142-ball knock.
The opener was the only batsman in the top seven to register double figures, blasting 10 fours and six maximums before becoming Kevin O’Brien’s second victim in the final over.
Andy McBrine led the attack with three for 38 from 10 overs while Boyd Rankin matched O’Brien’s two wickets.
Porterfield lacked support either side of his partnership with Joyce and despite departing shortly before O’Brien with 20 still required, Ireland got home in the final over courtesy of Gary Wilson and George Dockrell.
Ireland’s next fixture is against the mighty West Indies on Saturday March 10th (7.30am Irish time, live on Sky Sports Mix).
The Windies are without a number of their key players - with Dwayne and Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell all putting a pay day in the T20 Pakistan Super League ahead of the World Cup qualification bid.
However, they remain the strongest team on show in Zimbabwe - and they beat the UAE by 60 runs in their opening fixture on Tuesday.
Ominously for Ireland, Chris Gayle made 123 off 91 balls in the West Indies’ first innings total of 357-4 - and he was ably supported by 21-year-old Shimron Hetmyer, who top scored with 127.
The UAE were then held to 297-6 in response, with skipper Jason Holder taking 5-53.
Ireland’s win over Papua New Guinea leaves them in top spot in Group A with two wins from two. There are five teams in each group, with each side playing one another once.
After the round robin phase, the top three sides in Group A and Group B will progress to the Super Six round. Results against teams from your own group are carried forward, and each team then plays the three qualifiers from the opposite group.
The top two teams in the Super Six table will qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England, before playing a final to decide the tournament winner.
Scorecard
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Batsman How Out Bowler Runs Mins Balls 4s 6s SR
Ura c Porterfield b K O'Brien 151 214 142 10 6 106.34
Vagi Morea run out (Dockrell) 1 6 4 0 0 25.00
Vala c N O'Brien b McBrine 8 25 26 0 0 30.77
Siaka c & b McBrine 2 21 15 0 0 13.33
S Bau c N O'Brien b McBrine 3 15 10 0 0 30.00
Dai c N O'Brien b Rankin 1 23 8 0 0 12.50
Amini st N O'Brien b Stirling 8 22 20 0 0 40.00
Vare Kevere run out (Joyce) 13 32 25 0 0 52.00
Soper c Stirling b Rankin 25 58 40 0 0 62.50
Vanua c Joyce b K O'Brien 12 21 10 0 1 120.00
Nao not out 1 4 1 00100.00
Extras 1nb 4w 1b 4lb 10
Total (50.0 overs) 235 all out
BOWLING
Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Econ
Murtagh 10.0 0 32 0 3.20
Rankin 10.0 3 41 2 4.10
McBrine 10.0 2 38 3 3.80
Dockrell 10.0 2 50 0 5.00
Stirling 3.0 0 16 1 5.33
K O'Brien 7.0 0 53 2 7.57
Fall of Wicket Batsman
2-1 (1.1 ovs) Vagi Morea
12-2 (7.2 ovs) Vala
24-3 (11.5 ovs) Siaka
42-4 (15.3 ovs) S Bau
55-5 (20.1 ovs) Dai
80-6 (25.4 ovs) Amini
116-7 (32.4 ovs) Vare Kevere
199-8 (46.2 ovs) Soper
227-9 (49.3 ovs) Ura
235-10 (49.6 ovs) Vanua
IRELAND
Batsman How Out Bowler Runs Mins Balls 4s 6s SR
Porterfield c Amini b Nao 111 157 133 12 0 83.46
Stirling c Siaka b Vala 27 29 21 4 0 128.57
Balbirnie b Soper 7 24 25 0 0 28.00
Joyce c Nao b Dai 53 75 69 4 0 76.81
N O'Brien lbw b Vala 1 5 3 0 0 33.33
K O'Brien b Vanua 12 30 12 0 0 100.00
Wilson not out 12 27 15 1 0 80.00
Dockrell not out 8 23 17 1 0 7.06
Extras 0nb 4w 0b 2lb 6
Total (49.1 overs) 237- 6
BOWLING
Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Econ
Nao 8.1 0 34 1 4.16
Vanua 10.0 0 60 1 6.00
Dai 10.0 0 41 1 4.10
Vala 10.0 0 39 2 3.90
Amini 3.0 0 23 0 7.67
Soper 8.0 0 38 1 4.75
Fall of Wicket Batsman
52-1 (7.3 ovs) Stirling
76-2 (15.3 ovs) Balbirnie
184-3 (37.1 ovs) Joyce
188-4 (38.3 ovs) N O'Brien
212-5 (43.2 ovs) Porterfield
216-6 (44.2 ovs) K O'Brien
