Will power gets Irish over line
RECORD-BREAKING batting heroics by Papua New Guinean opener Tony Ura were not enough to deny an Ireland ICC World Cup qualifier victory yesterday.
The men in green won by four wickets, led from the front by captain William Porterfield’s century at Harare Sports Club.
Only one of the top seven PNG batsmen got to double figures before Ura struck with an innings of 155 runs from 144 balls.
The 28-year-old, who did not feature in his side’s opening game loss to UAE on Sunday, easily surpassed his previous ODI best score of 61.
Their innings came to a close with Kevin O’brien (2-53) claiming the final wicket off the last ball.
Andy Mcbrine (3-38) was the standout bowler but was ably supported by Boyd Rankin (2-41) and Paul Stirling (1-16).
Porterfield, who passed 3,500 ODI runs during his innings, eventually fell for 111 from 133 balls.
At that stage Ireland needed 24 to win from the last 40 balls and the loss of O’brien for 12 six balls later put a minor fright up fans.
But experience in the big games came to the fore as Gary Wilson and George Dockrell steered Ireland home.
Rob Cassell, Ireland assistant coach, said: “It was a little a bit closer than we expected but there’s always that pressure on when playing against a lesser ranked side.”
Elsewhere in Group A, the West Indies had a strong win over UAE with star batsman Chris Gayle in ominous form, hitting 123 off 91 balls.
Ireland will face the Windies on Saturday with both sides undefeated.