Matthew Humphreys claimed four for 16 as Ireland edged out Italy by three wickets in the first T20 at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.
The slow left-armer was the pick of the bowlers but he was backed up by two wickets apiece from Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy and Gareth Delany as Italy were all out for 118 in 18.1 overs.
Italy will be the surprise packages at next month's T20 World Cup – and are in the same group as England – and they put up a fight as Ireland lurched from 93 for two to 112 for seven.
Harry Tector (41) and Lorcan Tucker (34) broke the back of the chase before Ireland’s middle-order faltered, but they got over the line with three balls to spare to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
This series acts as a warm-up ahead of the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, which gets under way on 7 February. The next match between the teams is on Sunday at the same venue.
