"Good Knock But It's The Win That Counts": Paul Stirling On His Match-Winning Century vs England

Paul Stirling played the role of a sheet anchor as he guided Ireland to a famous seven-wicket victory over England in the third ODI, denying them a clean sweep. It was a special knock for Paul Stirling as he notched up 142 runs off 128 balls to help Ireland clinch the match in the final over.

Asked to bat, England put up a target of 329 to chase for Ireland. Stirling stood his ground from the onset of the match as he hit nine boundaries and six sixes, forging a key partnership with his captain Andrew Balbirnie, to take his side home. Balbirnie well complimented the opener as he notched up 113 runs, laced up with 12 boundaries.

Stirling, in the post match presentation said, that it was a brilliant win after couple of losses in the series. He also said that he likes to bat with the captain as they can together build up good partnerships. The opener mentioned that his knock was special but the team won and that is what counts the most.

“It was brilliant to get our first win in the competition, especially after a couple of tough games, showed a lot of character to come back. We’ve chased over 300 a number of times, particularly in World Cups, so we knew we could do it, freed us up to go hard at the top, have a bit of fun and it was a solid chase in the end.

“We haven’t played for so long, you get used to sticking your pads on having some nerves and then you get back to normal. You get past that and feel like you’re back to normal again. Nice to go on. [Partnership?] Love batting with Bal, we seem to put on good partnerships. Great to bat with and his knock was pretty special as well. This (innings) is up there, definitely, against England in England, nice knock to have but it’s the win and the team that counts,” Stirling added.

Stirling was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his stellar performance as England sealed the three-ODI series 2-1.