IRELAND MADE a victorious debut in Twenty20 cricket last night when they proved too strong for Bangladesh A, winning by 82 runs at Eglinton in Derry.
Andre Botha returned to the national side after injury and continued his fine club form with a brilliant undefeated 62 off 41 deliveries as Phil Simmons's side made 161 from their 20 overs.
Having been put into bat by the visitors, Ireland got off to a poor start when Thinus Fourie was caught behind by Dhiman Ghosh off Mahbubul Alam's first delivery in the second over of the game.
Teenager Paul Stirling got off to a blazing start, only to get bogged down before being stumped by Ghosh off the bowling of Arafat Sunny after hitting 20 off 18 balls, including a six.
Opener Reinhardt Strydom went after making 30 off 32 balls, leaving Ireland on 75 for three in the 12th over.
That brought World Cup skipper Trent Johnston to the wicket and he shared in a crucial 42-run stand with Botha before he was caught behind for 21 to give Naeem Islam the second of his three wickets.
Stirling ran out Imrul Kayes without scoring and when Fourie had Saghir Hossain caught by Botha for four in the second over, the home side sniffed victory.
The Bangladeshis suffered two more run-outs, while skipper Kyle McCallan showed that class counts whatever the format in cricket, with three wickets for just seven runs in his three overs.
Alex Cusack wrapped up the game with the first ball of the 17th over, Fintan McAllister taking the catch behind the stumps to dismiss Rubel Hossain for a duck as Bangladesh were bowled out for 79.
The two sides meet again tomorrow in a 50-over clash at Bangor, with play scheduled to begin at 11am.
The Ireland women's team didn't fare as well in their Twenty20 encounter against the West Indies, going down to a 75 run defeat at Rush.
Stephanie Taylor made a wonderful 90 as West Indies made 184 for four off their 20 overs, with Isobel Joyce taking two wickets for 27.
It was always going to prove a tough ask and despite 41 from Cecelia Joyce and 20 from twin sister Isobel, Ireland could only make 109 for seven in their innings.
Meanwhile, Leinster beat Instonians by 57 runs in their refixed Irish Senior Cup third-round encounter at Rathmines.
An eight-wicket stand of 87 between Will Lennon (44) and Rob Miley (43) helped rescue the home side deom a perilous position to post 236.
James Shannon, called up yesterday for the Ireland A duty, made 62 in reply but Instonians were eventually bowled out for 179 in the 39th over. Teenage spinner George Dockrell wrapped up the game for Leinster, taking four wickets for 28, while skipper Anton Scholtz took three for 20.
Leinster join four other teams from the province in the quarter-finals and face an away clash against Rush in a bid to make the last four.
TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL
At Eglinton
Bangladesh won toss and fielded
IRELAND
R Strydom c N Hossain b Islam 30
T Fourie c Ghosh b Alam 1
P Stirling st Ghosh b Sunny 20
A Botha not out 62
T Johnston st Ghosh b Islam 21
A Cusack c R Hossain b Islam 5
A White c and b N Hossain 10
A Poynter not out 0
Extras (b1, lb5, nb2, w4) 12
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Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 161
Did not bat:K McCallan, F McAllister, P Connell.
Fall of wickets:1-2, 2-33, 3-73, 4-116, 5-134, 6-156.
Bowling:N Hossain 4-0-25-1; Mahbubul Alam 4-0-37-1; R Hossain 4-1-19-0; A Sunny 3-0-24-1; N Islam 4-0-33-3; S Shuvo 1-0-17-0.
BANGLADESH
A I Kayes run out 0
J Siddique run out 13
S Hossain c Botha b Fourie 4
N Islam c Stirling b Botha 20
N Chowdrey c McCallan b Johnston 3
D Ghosh b McCallan 20
S Shuvo run out 2
A Sunny not out 2
N Hossain c Stirling b McCallan 0
Mahbubul Alam c Botha b McCallan 6
R Hossain c McAllister b Cusack 0
Extras (b3, lb5, w 1) 9
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Total (all out, 16.1 ovs) 79
Fall of wickets:1-0, 2-5, 3-38, 4-41, 5-56, 6-66, 7-71, 8-71, 9-79.
Bowling:P Connell 3-0-20-0; T Fourie 3-0-16-1; T Johnston 4-0-20-1; A Botha 2-0-6-1; K McCallan 3-0-7-3; A Cusack 1.1-0-2-1.
Ireland won by 82 runs.
WOMEN'S TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL
At Kenure
West Indies184-4 (20 ovs) (S Taylor 90, SA King 52; I Joyce 2-27), Ireland 109-7(20 ovs) (C Joyce 41, I Joyce 20; K Alexander 3-20).
West Indies won by 75 runs.
