IRE vs BAN: Paul Stirling slams his 27th ODI fifty
Veteran Ireland batter Paul Stirling registered his 27th fifty in the 3rd ODI against Bangladesh at the County Cricket ground in Chelmsford. His commanding innings kept the host in the driver's seat through their chase. Stirling's 73-ball 60 helped Ireland lay a foundation. His crucial knock was laced with four boundaries and two maximums. Here we decode his stats.
A stellar knock from Stirling
Stirling started off the Ireland innings with Stephen Doheny but the latter was dismissed early on. However, Stirling used all his experience and steadied the ship with skipper Andrew Balbirnie. The duo stitched a very crucial 109-run stand in only 125 deliveries. Both of them slammed fifties. Stirling was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan in the 32nd over after he top-edged a short ball.
Highest run-scorer for Ireland in ODIs
The 32-year-old is Ireland's top run-scorer in this format. Courtesy of this knock, he has raced to 5,334 runs in 132 matches at an average of 38.10. He has compiled 27 fifties and 13 hundreds. He is the only Irish batter to cross 5,000 runs in ODIs. Stirling has surpassed 300 runs against Bangladesh in 12 ODIs (50s: 2, 100: 1).
Most century partnerships for Ireland
Stirling and Balbirnie's 109-run partnership is the duo's seventh hundred-run stand. Most 100-run partnerships for Ireland in ODIs: 7 - Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie, and 6 - Paul Stirling and William Porterfield As per Kausthub Gudipati, no other pair has more than two.
A fine fifty from Balbirnie
Although on a losing cause, Ireland skipper, Balbirnie slammed his 14th ODI fifty. He has amassed 2,776 in 95 ODIs at an average of 32.65. Balbirnie and Stirling added 109 runs and during that period, Ireland were in the driver's seat. Notably, this was his first ODI fifty against Bangladesh. He has mustered only 143 runs against them in nine ODIs at 20.42.
A valiant knock from Tucker
With wickets falling at the other end, Tucker played a very calm knock. He stitched a 79-run stand with Harry Tector and Ireland were cruising home. But a late collapse saw them fall short by four runs. It was Tucker's third ODI fifty (585 runs).
How did the match pan out?
Bangladesh could only manage 274, courtesy of a fine fifty from skipper Tamim Iqbal and a few handy cameos from Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Najmul Shanto, and Mehidy Hasan took them to a fighting total. In reply, Balbirnie and Stirling stitched a 109-run stand. Later, Tucker registered a fifty but they lost their way and were bundled out for 270.
