Praise for ‘world class’ Paul Stirling despite Ireland defeat

Stirling’s last international innings was his magnificent 142 against England in August and he instantly tapped back into that groove in Abu Dhabi, striking an unbeaten 131 after the tourists opted to bat first.

The Belfast-born opener hit nine fours and four sixes en route to his 10th ODI ton, but his side were unable to defend a total of 269 for five.

Captain Andy Balbirnie offered sound support, posting 53 in a century stand, but there was limited firepower elsewhere in the batting line-up, with Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker hustled out in single figures by Rohan Mustafa in the middle-order.

The home side timed their chase impeccably, getting over the line with exactly an over to spare as Chundangapoyil Rizwan (109) and Muhammad Usman (102 not out) put on a game-changing stand of 184.

Coming together at 51 for three after a couple of early strikes from Barry McCarthy, the pair proved too good in their own conditions.

Curtis Campher returned two for 31 in a full 10-over stint, but the runs could not be curtailed.

“It was a good knock from Paul, he’s obviously a world-class batsman,” Balbirnie told Cricket Ireland. “To bat 50 overs and get a score like he did and get us to a total which we thought was just above par on a pretty slow wicket.

“We were looking at maybe 300 but, unfortunately, I got out and that gave them a bit of momentum.

“It’s quite tricky to know where the momentum of the game turned, I thought we kept them under wraps pretty well.

“We’re hugely disappointed with the result...but don’t have much time to reflect, we’re going to be back on the park in a couple of days.”

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