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DUBAI, UAE – In the opening game of this historic series, Ireland defeated Italy by three wickets as they begin their final preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next month. 

After losing the toss, Italy made a quick start with the bat early on, however, two vital wickets from Barry McCarthy kept Ireland in the powerplay.

Ireland’s captain Paul Stirling then made clever use of his three spinners (Matthew Humphreys, Gareth Delany and George Dockrell) to keep things tight in the middle overs and put pressure back on the Italian batter order.

Humphreys. in particular, made his mark, claiming a couple of wickets and then taking two in two balls in his final over to give Ireland the advantage.

Gareth Delany took two wickets with one coming off a remarkable catch in the deep. George Dockrell first took the catch near the rope at deep midwicket but then managed to throw the ball successfully to Harry Tector before he overbalanced and touched the boundary edge.

Mark Adair took his first wicket in the 17th over and then managed to close out the Italian innings in the 19th over with his second.

Ireland had a tricky start to their chase of 119 when they lost captain Paul Stirling in the first over. However, Ross Adair and Harry Tector soon managed to get their side up and running.

Lorcan Tucker walked to the wicket after the dismissal of Adair in the fourth over. Both Tector and Tucker then managed to put on a considerable partnership of 71 to largely take the game away from Italy.

Some late wickets then added drama to the chase, but Ben Calitz and Barry McCarthy eventually managed to move past the total with three balls remaining.

Matthew Humphreys (4-16) was Player of the Match. The next match in the series takes place on Sunday (6am, Irish time).

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MATCH SUMMARY

Ireland Men v Italy Men, 1st T20I, Kathmandu, 23 January 2026

ITALY 118 (18.1 overs; A Mosca 35; M Humphreys 4-16, B McCarthy 2-14)

IRELAND 119-7 (19.3 overs; H Tector 41, L Tucker 34; G Stewart 3-21)

Ireland Men won by 3 wickets

Scorecard here