KOLKATA:
Paul Stirling smashed an explosive century as Ireland posted an emphatic six-wicket victory over the Netherlands in their last World Cup match.
The opener gave a superb exhibition scoring 101 as Ireland chased a stiff 307-run target with 14 balls to spare at the Eden Gardens.
Ireland and the Netherlands were already out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals but Ireland had the satisfaction of posting two victories in the tournament while the Netherlands return winless.
The Dutch recorded their highest total at the tournament but failed to keep pressure on the Irish openers William Porterfield (68) and Stirling.
Their 177-run stand was Ireland’s best for the first wicket in One-Day Internationals (ODI), surpassing the 118 between the same pair against Bangladesh in Belfast last year.
“It was a great innings from Paul,” said captain Porterfield.
“We were pretty confident, but slightly disappointed with the way we bowled. To finish it off in Eden Gardens with a win is great.”
Man-of-the-match Stirling was more aggressive than Porterfield, racing to his half-century off just 25 balls and then taking 45 more deliveries to complete his second hundred in ODIs. The Dutch had to wait until the 27th over to break the stand when off-spinner Tom Cooper had Porterfield caught behind. Stirling fell in the next over, caught by Alexei Kervezee at deep mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar. All the other batsmen chipped in, with Niall O’Brien hitting 57 not out, Ed Joyce scoring 28 and Gary Wilson 27. Kevin O’Brien finished on 15 not out.
“We felt we had a chance, but a lot of credit to young Paul Stirling,” said Dutch captain Peter Borren.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2011.
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