Ireland captain Paul Stirling eager to build on T20 international success against Zimbabwe in ODI series

The series gets underway on Thursday and Stirling is hoping for better from Ireland after admitting they weren’t at “100 percent” in the T20i series.

"The most pleasing thing was we weren’t at 100 percent,” said Stirling of Ireland’s victory over Zimbabwe. “I said before the series started that we needed to be at our best to win these games, and I still believe that we have a lot to improve on.

"That’s our challenge now, particularly in the first match of the series. We haven’t had the best of results, so if can somehow turn that around and take a 1-0 lead in the series, which is our objective, I think that will stand us in good stead, and tick off a couple of areas that we’ve already looked to improve on.”

Ireland are playing Zimbabwe for the third time in 2023, with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers sandwiched in between two multi-format tours, but Stirling is more than happy to be on tour again.

“We always enjoy coming to Zimbabwe. Three tours to the same place in one calendar year is probably unheard of, but we are warmly welcomed when we do come here,” he said. “We play good competitive cricket and that’s set to continue this week.

“It always a great atmosphere here in Harare, particularly at the weekends. We know that they come in their numbers and whenever Zimbabwe are on top the place really gets rocking.

"We welcome as much support, even support for the opposition, because that’s the atmosphere that we want to play in in international sport.”

On the challenge facing his side in this week’s ODI series, he added: “We know that when Zimbabwe are at their best, they are a very strong side. I’m sure they’ll have a couple of their most experienced players back in the side and the challenge will be even trickier.

"We’ve played a lot of 50-over cricket here, particularly this year, so we know how the game will transform. I think it really comes down to who plays the best cricket on the day.

"I don’t think there’ll be any real surprises. Both teams are pretty well set and well versed in what’s to come.”