BULAWAYO: Hard-hitting opener Paul Stirling played a swashbuckling 162-run knock before a combined effort from the bowlers powered Ireland to their only victory in the ongoing Cricket World Cup (CWC) Qualifier.
Ireland finally got their opener Paul Stirling yielding runs but it was too late as his best knock of the CWC Qualifier came when the side had already run out of the Super Sixes contention.
Paul Stirling was at his very best against UAE in a Group B bottom clash as he fired Ireland to a mammoth total of 349/4 in 50 overs after they were put into bat first by the UAE captain Muhammad Waseem.
The right-handed batter smoked 15 boundaries and eight sixes amid his astounding knock and top-scored for Ireland with a 134-ball 162.
Besides him, Harry Tector scored a quickfire and further bolstered Ireland’s total while skipper Andy Balbirine played a cautious 66-run knock from 88 deliveries.
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Tector, on the other hand, smashed four boundaries and two sixes on his way to a 33-ball 57.
Sanchit Sharma stood out with the ball for the UAE with 3/46 in seven overs while the rest went for plenty.
Set to chase a daunting 350-run target, UAE bundled out for a meagre 211 in 29 overs despite a decent start from their openers.
UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem scripted a flying start to the run chase and played a brisk 45-run knock early on before having an unlucky exit in the eighth over.
He faced 32 deliveries and struck six boundaries and two sixes.
UAE failed to capitalize on a strong foundation led by Muhammad Waseem’s brisk knock and began to lose wickets at regular intervals before Ireland finally bowled them out in 29 overs to register their only victory in the CWC Qualifier.
Besides Waseem, Basil Hameed (39) and Sanchit Sharma (44) remained the other notable run-scorers for UAE.
Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine and Josh Little bagged two wickets each for Scotland while Barry McCarthy made one scalp each.