Ireland have been beaten by eight wickets in the final T20 International of the three-match series with Bangladesh in Chattogram.
After winning the toss, Ireland elected to bat first, and – just as in the last two matches – Paul Stirling (38) and Tim Tector (17) got off to a sprightly start – the pair putting on 38 in 23 balls, before Tector was bowled by Shoriful Islam, the ball cutting across the right hander and striking the off stump.
Harry Tector (5) joined Stirling but was out in unfortunate circumstances playing a ball back towards his stumps, and in a lunging effort to kick the ball away he only toed it onto his stumps.
From there, both the run rate slowed dramatically, and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. George Dockrell (19) and Gareth Delany (10) were the only two batters after the fall of Stirling to make double figures, and the Bangladeshi bowlers – particularly the spinners – controlled the game to restrict Ireland to 117 all out.
Tanzid Hasan equalled the record for most number of outfield catches in T20I cricket with five.
The Bangladeshi batting reply was decisive – despite losing two early wickets the home eased to victory in 13.4 overs.
Craig Young (1-30) and Harry Tector (1-17) grabbed a wicket apiece, but the small Irish total proved too tough to defend.
Bangladesh has won the series 2-1, but Ireland will be somewhat pleased with the series overall given the importance of the fixtures as a key part of the T20 World Cup preparations.
