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Ireland suffered a five wicket loss against Sydney based Randwick Petersham in their 50 over friendly at a sun drenched Coogee Oval.
Skipper William Porterfield top scored with 74 as Ireland posted what appeared to be a competitive 255-7 at the half-way stage.

He was well supported by Ed Joyce (49) and Niall O’Brien (31) in stands of 87 and 53, but from 203 for 3 with 10 overs remaining, only 52 were added in the crucial final period.

Craig Young gave the Irish an early boost when he had Middlesex player Ryan Higgins (12) caught by keeper Niall O’Brien, but that proved a false dawn as Alex Sams (80) and Nathan Price (51) shared an enterprising century stand.

Alex Kemp (31) and Daniel Sams (27) kept the scoreboard ticking as the Irish attack struggled to keep a check on the scoring rate on a flat deck and fast outfield.

Randwick Petersham skipper Adam Semple’s unbeaten 33 secured the win with 37 deliveries remaining.

Craig Young (3-68) was the most successful of the Irish attack, with Peter Chase (1-20) and Max Sorensen (1-36) the other wicket takers.

The Irish are back in action next week when they face Scotland and Bangladesh in their official warm-up games on Tuesday and Thursday.

They will be hoping the return of Kevin O’Brien, George Dockrell, Alex Cusack and John Mooney bolsters their ranks ahead of their first Group B match against the West Indies in Nelson on February 16th.

SCOREBOARD

At Coogee Oval, Randwick Petersham beat Ireland XI by 5 wickets

IRELAND XI
W Porterfield c Price b Ellis 74
P Stirling c Chibber b D Sams 16
E Joyce b Price 49
N O’Brien c D Sams b McLean 31
A Balbirnie c Semple b Eaton 26
G Wilson c Stapleton b Semple 24
S Thompson b Semple 15
M Sorensen not out 9
A McBrine not out 1
C Young dnb
P Chase dnb
Extras 10 (5 lb, 4w, 1nb)
Total 7 wkts (50 overs) 255

Fall: 1-24 2-111 3-164 4-203 5-204 6-237 7-248

Bowling: N Ellis 8-0-33-1; D Sams 7-0-37-1; N Stapleton 6-0-28-0; S Chhibber 6-0-37-0; N Price 6-0-34-1; A Semple 5-0-24-2; S Doggett 4-1-17-0; H McLean 4-0-28-1 S Eaton 4-0-12-1

RANDWICK PETERSHAM
R Higgins c N O Brien+ b Young 12
A Sams c Wilson b Sorensen 80
N Price c Sorensen b Chase 51
A Kemp c Wilson b Young 31
D Sams c Balbirnie b Young 27
A Semple not out 33
S Eaton not out 0
J Scicluna dnb
N Stapelton dnb
S Chhibber dnb
N Ellis dnb
Extras 22 (4b, 3lb, 14 w, 1 nb)
Total 5 wkts (43.5 overs) 256

Fall 1-22 2-123 3-182 4-200 5-247

Bowling: C Young 8.5-1-68-3; M Sorensen 8-0-36-1; A McBrine 10-0-32-0; P Stirling 5-0-51-0; S Thompson 8-0-42-0; P Chase 4-0-20-1

Captain’s and umpires at the toss with Randy Petes President Mike Whitney ©Cricket Ireland/Barry Chambers
[2868] Ireland v Randwick Petersham – ireland-v-randwick-petersham
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