Stirling stars with 162 as Ireland finish league section with massive win

Jun 28, 2023 at 7:06 AM
Stirling stars with 162 as Ireland finish league section with massive win

Ireland 349 for 4 (Stirling 162, Balbirnie 66, Tector 57, Sanchit 3-46) beat UAE 211 (Waseem 45, Sanchit 44, Dockrell 2-32, McBrine 2-34) by 138 runs

An assured hundred from Paul Stirling together with half-centuries of contrasting natures from Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector laid the platform for a convincing 138-run win as Ireland ensured they ended the league section on a excessive.

But that was the destiny UAE – one other workforce knocked out of rivalry earlier than this recreation – couldn’t stop as they slipped to 211 all out on a great batting observe.

UAE captain Muhammad Waseem gave them a commanding begin of their reply however as soon as he was gone as a consequence of a freak run-out, the chase petered out regardless of a handful of cameos.

Stirling stamped his authority from ball one. With some swing on supply early on, Junaid Siddique pitched it up and Stirling leaned into the drive, caressing it away by the covers. That was an ominous signal of issues to come back from the big-hitting opener.

Stirling stayed watchful by the primary ten overs, whilst Andy McBrine began to choose up the tempo after a sluggish begin. Sanchit was launched within the assault after seven overs and made a direct impression, trapping McBrine lbw with a size ball that seamed in from outdoors off.

But Stirling instantly put the strain again on the bowlers with two back-to-back fours within the subsequent over by Ali Naseer. He introduced up his half-century off 56 deliveries.

Balbirnie, coming into the match with scores of 12, 0 and seven in his final three video games, was a contact sluggish as he took on the function of an anchor whereas Stirling stored the scoreboard ticking.

Stirling reached his century off 98 balls within the thirty fourth over, slogging Aayan Afzal Khan over midwicket to get to his 14th ODI hundred. Balbirnie reached his fifty off the ultimate supply of that over and each batters hit a six every off Karthik Meiyappan within the subsequent.

Basil Hameed was introduced on as UAE appeared for wickets and Stirling greeted him with three sixes. Stirling and Balbirnie added 184 from 178 balls for the second wicket. After Balbirnie fell to Naseer within the thirty ninth over, Tector got here in and stored the runs coming together with Stirling.

Stirling then crossed the 150-run mark with a six off Siddique. He tried to tackle a slot ball from Sanchit Sharma however a great catch by Meiyappan at deep midwicket ended his marathon knock, which comprised 15 fours and a career-best eight sixes.

But there was no aid for UAE, as Tector put them to the sword, mentioning his half-century off simply 30 balls. He grew to become Sanchit’s third sufferer of the sport within the penultimate over, however George Dockrell and Tucker took 16 runs off the final over to arrange a 350-run goal.

In the chase, Waseem dominated the opening levels, hitting 45 of the 58 runs scored earlier than he obtained out. A size ball from Barry McCarthy shot up and hit him on the gloves. The ball rolled in the direction of cowl, however Waseem was grimacing from the blow and began strolling in the direction of the sq. leg umpire whereas signalling for a physio, not realising that the ball was not but useless. Balbirnie was sharp to what was occurring and, seeing Waseem wandering outdoors his crease, swooped in and threw the stumps down.

His opening accomplice Aryansh Sharma was quickly carried out in for his lack of footwork, reducing a brief and vast supply from McCarthy straight to level. Little, returning for an additional spell, despatched again Vriitya Aravind and Ethan D’Souza in consecutive overs. McBrine put Ireland in command with two wickets within the twenty first.

Sanchit, who was UAE’s greatest bowler, additionally impressed with the bat as he and Hameed added 70 runs for the seventh wicket, however they may simply take them to a decent complete, with Ireland’s rating by no means in risk of being chased down. They each hit three sixes every earlier than Hameed skied a sweep off Dockrell to deep backward sq..

Sanchit was fast to observe, miscuing Curtis Campher to long-on earlier than the Ireland bowlers mopped up the tail to finish a comfort win.

Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo