Ireland maintained their 100% record in the World T20 Qualifying Tournament when they defeated Canada by just 2 runs.

In a dramatic finish, Canada who at one stage appeared to be cruising to victory, needed four of the last ball of the match to tie and force a super-over but a fine piece of fielding on the boundary by Kevin O'Brien meant only 2 runs were scored.

Earlier Canada won the toss and asked Ireland to bat first. William Porterfield and Paul Stirling were unable to repeat yesterday's blistering start when they both fell cheaply. Porterfield chipped a ball to mid off when he was on 5 and Stirling whose 16 runs consisted of 4 fours was plumb LBW playing across the line. The O'Brien brothers then added 58 runs in 6 overs to get momentum into the innings before Kevin was caught at the wicket for 31 off 23 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. Two overs later Niall joined his brother back in the pavilion when he was stumped trying to force the pace having contributed 27 off 24 balls with 3 fours.

Ireland scored an impressive 58 runs from the final 5 overs to set a challenging target of 169 for Canada to bounce back from their surprise defeat by USA yesterday. Trent Johnston, promoted in the batting order, was largely responsible for the late surge as he got a career high T20 score for Ireland of 39 not out off just 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. He was supported by cameos from Gary Wilson, 24 of 18 balls and John Mooney who hit 2 fours in his unbeaten 14 from just 7 balls. Hansra with 2 for 24 and Baidwan 2 for 29 were the best of the Canada bowlers.

Max Sorensen was given the new ball when Ireland took the field to defend their total and got that defence off to a sensational start when he claimed wickets with his first two balls. Patel was LBW and Cheema edged to Gary Wilson. The hat trick was denied by an inside edge that just missed the leg stump. However that was as good as it got for Ireland until the last dramatic over. Ireland have provided a season of nail biting finishes so no one here was surprised when the result hinged on the final few balls of the match for the fourth time in 2013.

After the first Sorensen over the Ireland bowling lacked both penetration and direction. The Canada captain Ashish BagaI and Ruvindu Gunasekera not only rebuilt the innings, they took Canada to the brink of victory. When Gunasekera was caught by Niall O'Brien on the boundary for 65 off Alex Cusack they had added 125 and left a target of just 44 from 26 balls. Effectively it was the Ireland ground fielding that kept them in touch and forced the game to that final ball.

Bagai got man of the match for his 67 not out although Trent Johnston had a justifiable claim with his batting and one key over. However there must be concern at the lack of penetration in the Ireland attack. As this tournament progresses, unless this issue is addressed, Ireland are going to find themselves on the wrong side of these close finishes.

Ireland are second in their group to the UAE on run rate and these two teams meet tomorrow at 10am Irish time to determine who finishes the weekend as top dog.