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GARY WILSON’S 200th appearance for Ireland ended in defeat as they slipped to an 11 run loss to Papua New Guinea in the final T20I match of their series.
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Wilson became the fifth Irishman to pass the landmark – following Kevin O’Brien (257), Andrew White (231), Kyle McCallan (226) and William Porterfield (217).

The Belfast man was given the captain’s armband for the day as Porterfield was rested along with Boyd Rankin, Andrew Poynter and Craig Young.

On a sluggish pitch PNG scored 116 for 8 with Sese Bau (25) and Charles Amini (24) their main contributors.

Ireland used their triumvirate of spinners with George Dockrell (2-15), Andrew McBrine (1-17), and Paul Stirling (1-19) – with his first bowl of the tour – all among the wickets.

Tim Murtagh was the most successful of the attack claiming 3 for 23, as PNG found boundaries hard to come by. They managed just 3 fours and 2 sixes in the entire innings, giving an indication of just how tricky the conditions were.

Chad Soper (3-13) removed openers Paul Stirling (8) and Andrew Balbirnie (5) cheaply, but a steady stand of 31 between Niall O’Brien (27) and Gary Wilson (15) looked to be steering Ireland towards victory as they reached 49 for 2.

However Wilson’s dismissal was followed by Kevin O’Brien’s first ball, and all of a sudden Ireland were on the slide.

Despite brief cameos from Stuart Thompson (10) and Andrew McBrine (10*), they were dismissed in the last over for 105, with Amini (2-13) and Mahuru Dai (2-26) among the wickets.

Ireland now travel on to the UAE where they play a warm-up against a club side on Saturday, before playing two T20I’s against the hosts on Sunday and Tuesday.

IRELAND V PAPUA NEW GUINEA T20I SERIES

At Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 116/8 (20 overs, S Bau 25, C Amini 24, T Murtagh 3-23, G Dockrell 2-15)

IRELAND 105 all out (19.1 overs, N O’Brien 27, G Wilson 15, C Soper 3-13, C Amini 2-13, M Dai 2-26)

Papua New Guinea beat Ireland by 11 runs. Ireland win the series 2-1.

You can follow Ireland’s build up to the ICC World T20 on www.cricketireland.ie and by following Cricket Ireland on Twitter @Irelandcricket, Facebook & Instagram.

Gary Wilson receives his 200th cap from William Porterfield
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