Ireland beat Hong Kong by eight wickets in their first match
Friday 18 October 2019 15:12, UK
Scotland's bid for a spot at next year's T20 World Cup in Australia got off to a losing start as they slumped to a two-run defeat against Singapore.
Scotland needed eight from the final over with four wickets in hand to trump Singapore's 168-6 - but lost three wickets in four balls to finish on 166-9 in Dubai. SCORECARD
Calum MacLeod (44) fell to the third ball of the 20th over, with Safyaan Sharif dismissed from the penultimate ball and then Alasdair Evans run out from the final delivery.
Scotland had raced to 70-0 inside eight overs thanks principally to George Munsey (46 off 25 balls), who is hoping to be selected by a side during Sunday's inaugural draft for The Hundred.
Surendran Chandramohan (51 off 55 balls) top-scored for Singapore, while Sharif and Josh Davey picked up two wickets apiece for Scotland.
Ireland made a winning start, beating Hong Kong by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi with Andrew Balbirnie (70 not out off 53) and Paul Stirling (62 off 36) seeing them to their target of 154 with 16 balls to spare.
Kinchit Shah struck 79 off 54 deliveries as Hong Kong posted 153-5 after electing to bat. SCORECARD
The top six sides in the 14-team World Cup Qualifier will reach next year's tournament proper, alongside Australia, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The qualifiers will battle Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the first round, with the top four then joining the rest of the sides in the Super 12s stage.
