Quadrangular Twenty20 tournament, Colombo: Canada 176-3 beat Ireland 172-8 by four runs
Match scorecard

Niall O'Brien scored 50 but Ireland fell short by four runs

Ireland lost to Canada by four runs in the Twenty20 quadrangular tournament in Colombo on Wednesday.

Opener Hiral Patel scored an unbeaten 88 to steer the Canadians to 176-3, with Irish all-rounder Andre Botha picking up three wickets.

Irish opener Niall O'Brien scored 50 off 34 balls and Gary Wilson managed 27 but Ireland finished on 172-8.

Ireland return to the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground on Thursday to face the Sri Lankan A side.

Against Canada, Ireland's batsmen twice appeared to be in a winning position, only to lose wickets at crucial times.

O'Brien got the chase off to rapid start with his half century, and with William Porterfield (19) and Paul Stirling (22) contributing useful cameos, Ireland were past halfway to their target after nine overs.

But a flurry of wickets left Botha and Gary Wilson to rebuild with a fifth-wicket partnership of 35 from 23 balls.

With 37 needed from the final four overs, Ireland were firm favourites again but three wickets fell for as many runs in the 17th over and the momentum was back with Canada.

Andy White and John Mooney reduced the ask to 12 from the final over but Mooney became a third run-out victim from the fourth ball.

After White added a single, Gary Kidd was unable to become an instant hero by hitting the final ball for a winning six.

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