William Porterfield top-scored for Ireland

Ireland survived a mid-innings wobble to beat Afghanistan by five wickets in the first game of their quadrangular Twenty20 series in Sri Lanka.

Chasing 122 for victory, Ireland looked in control at 91-2 in reply, but fell to 98-5 in the space of 12 balls.

Gary Wilson and John Mooney settled nerves as they added an unbroken 26 to achieve the win with 11 balls to spare.

Trent Johnston took 4-22 and Andre Botha 3-14 while William Porterfield top-scored with 46 from just 30 balls.

Porterfield smashed nine boundaries as he and Niall O'Brien (18) added 52 in just 6.1 overs.

Teenager George Dockrell showed why he is so highly rated in cricket circles, taking 2-11 in a superb display of control and variety.

Raees Ahmadzai (33), skipper Nowroz Mangal (27) and Shafiqullah Shafiq (23) were the highest scorers for Afghanistan.

Ireland had lost their two previous encounters to Afghanistan in the World Cup Qualifier and Intercontinental Cup.

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