Ireland captain Paul Stirling says his side lacked a cutting edge in vital periods of the game as they lost by 20 runs to co-hosts Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup Group B opener.

Ireland dropped five catches and leaked late runs in Colombo as Sri Lanka made 163-6, and they were going well at 105-2 before collapsing to 143 all out.

“We thought they got 15-20 [runs] too many. At the start of the day we’d be happy chasing 160,” said Stirling.

“When the match was on the line we weren’t as clinical as we wanted to be. A little bit sloppy in the field which is disappointing.

“Experience told. The Sri Lanka team at the end of both innings, that was the difference really.

“Those 20 runs – they defended well at the back end. We had plenty of wickets in hand, thought we were in good positions the whole way through and they really upped the ante and put the squeeze on.

“You can sit back and reflect and pick those 20 runs out of anywhere. They were 20 runs better than us throughout the whole match.”

Australia are Ireland’s next opponents on Wednesday as they chase a top-two finish to secure a place in the Super 8s.

Spin dominated in Sunday’s encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium and Stirling believes that could continue in the tournament.

“I think spin is going to be a challenge in this competition.

“Certainly, it wasn’t coming onto the bat as much as it could have been. Spin is going to be dominating phases of this game.”