World Twenty20 Qualifier: Ireland secure easy win over Nepal

Kevin O'Brien achieved career best T20 figures of 3-8

Group A leaders Ireland made it three wins out of three in the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament by easily seeing off Nepal at Stormont on Monday.

Nepal were bowled out for 53 and the Irish reached their modest target for the loss of two wickets.

Stuart Thompson and Kevin O'Brien each took three wickets and John Mooney two.

Also in Group A, Namibia beat the United States by seven wickets while Hong Kong's match against Papua New Guinea at Bready was abandoned.

Nepal made 18 from the first two overs, but began to lose regular wickets once Anil Mandal was the first man to go, having picked out O'Brien off Alex Cusack's bowling.

Only Sagar Pun and captain Paras Khadka, with 20 and 10 respectively, reached double figures for Nepal, who lost their final five wickets for only three runs as O'Brien and Thompson swept through the tail.

The former, who was on a hat-trick at one point, took 3-8 from his four overs while Thompson's trio of victims cost just 10 runs.

After a rain-delayed resumption for their own innings, Ireland lost Niall O'Brien chopping on for three in the second over before Stirling and Porterfield briskly moved towards their target of 54.

Like Niall O'Brien, Stirling was bowled by Sompal Kami with the scores level, but new batsman Kevin O'Brien struck the winning run to seal a comprehensive victory.

Top team in each group qualify automatically for World Twenty20 2016 - and semi-finals

Second, third and fourth-place teams qualify for quarter-finals, with a further four World T20 places available