Ireland's Paul Stirling clocks his maiden Test fifty
Ireland batter Paul Stirling smoked a fine half-century in the ongoing one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi. Batting at number six, he scored a crucial 52 off 89 balls, a knock laced with seven boundaries. This was his maiden Test fifty and overall second fifty-plus score in Ireland whites. Here we look at his stats.
A crucial knock from Stirling
Responding to Afghanistan's first innings score of 155, Ireland were struggling at 94/4 when Stirling arrived to bat at the fag end of the opening day. He returned unbeaten on two and batted exceedingly well in the morning session of Day 2. Alongside wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker, he added 80 runs for the sixth wicket before falling to spinner Zahir Khan.
Second 50-plus score for Stirling
Playing his sixth Test, Stirling has raced to 305 runs at 27.73. This was his maiden fifty in the format as his only other 50-plus score was a century (103) against Sri Lanka last year. This was his first Test assignment at number six. Overall, in First-Class cricket, Stirling now owns 3,240 runs, averaging around 29. The tally includes eight tons and 15 fifties.
How has the match proceeded?
Afghanistan were bundled out for 155 while batting first. The hosts, who suffered a top-order collapse after electing to bat, were powered by Ibrahim Zadran (53) and Karim Janat (41*). Mark Adair derailed the Afghans with a five-wicket haul. In reply, Ireland are in the lead with four wickets still in hand. Besides Stirling, Curtis Campher made a crucial 49.
