Niall O'Brien was the best of the Irish batsmen in Colombo

Ireland suffered a five-wicket defeat against a strong Sri Lanka A side in their final game of the Twenty 20 quadrangular tournament in Colombo.

Niall O'Brien top scored for the Irish with 59 while Paul Stirling hit 43 in a total of 174-6.

Chinthaka Jayasinghe took Sri Lanka to the win and tournament trophy with an unbroken stand of 68 in just 52 balls.

Meanwhile, Irish bowler Boyd Rankin is out of next week's World Cup qualifiers in the UAE because of a foot injury.

A scan revealed no fracture but the doctors have advised a three week period of rest.

Ireland have yet to nominate a replacement, but Nigel Jones will have done his chances of inclusion no harm whatsoever, taking 1-22 in his four-over spell - one of the few to escape punishment against the free flowing Sri Lankans.

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