The USA’s shock victory over Pakistan in Texas has blown this group right open giving extra significance to this match, especially for Irish hopes of reaching the Super 8s.
The much-scrutinised pitch at the New York stadium had all the grass taken off it and was rolled as late as possible by groundsperson Damian Hough.
In front of a sparse, but perhaps higher-than-expected, crowd of 5,153, Paul Stirling understandably bowled first but it played sufficiently well for the Canadians to post a defendable total.
Barbados-born Kirton, a former West Indies Under-19 player, played nicely as Canada hit 13 fours and two sixes in their innings.
One over from the experienced Craig Young (2-32) was dispatched for 16 by Kirton including two sixes thwacked down the ground. Wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva again played a lower-order cameo with 37 from 36 balls.
Ireland’s batting looked undercooked in their emphatic defeat to India and they lost key wickets here partly thanks to some smart bowling, partly through poor shot selection.
Stirling top-edged a pull while Harry Tector was bowled by a beauty which straightened from left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar. Lorcan Tucker needlessly ran himself out.
Adair and Dockrell momentarily had the Irish fans believing, but it was a case of not enough six in the city after those 54 boundary-less balls proved costly.
It was a deserved win for Canada, an Associate member of the ICC, who had got themselves in a similarly good position against the USA in their opening game but this time held their nerve at the business end.