On the back of Paul Stirling's pulverising knock of 162 runs, Ireland brushed aside United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifiers game at the Bulawayo Athletic Club on June 27 (Tuesday). Despite a massive 138-run victory, the Men in Green saw their 2023 ODI World Cup dream come to a screeching halt as Ireland ended up being the fourth-best team in their group and hence, were eliminated from the Super Six race.
The Irish men posted a monumental total of 349/4 in 50 overs after veteran batter Stirling exploded for a majestical century. The right-handed aggressive batter smashed 15 fours and eight sixes during his entertaining knock in which he faced 134 deliveries. Captain Andrew Balbirnie chipped in with a handsome knock and scored 66 runs off 88 balls with the help of five fours and one six.
Harry Tector gave an account of his eye-catching talent as the right-handed batter played a superb cameo of 57 runs in just 33 balls. During his knock, Tector smashed four fours and two sixes.
For UAE, Sanchit Sharma was the pick of all bowlers as he finished with figures of 3/46 in seven overs. Ali Naseer was the only other UAE bowler who managed to bag a wicket.
Chasing a daunting target, UAE's batting line-up shrunk under pressure and none of the batters even managed to score a half-century. Muhammad Waseem was the top-scorer for UAE as he played a knock of 45 runs off 32 balls. In an attempt to throw caution to the wind, UAE kept losing wickets at regular intervals before their innings came to an end for just 211 runs in 39 overs.
For Ireland, Joshua Little, Andy McBrine, George Dockrell and Curtis Campher bagged two wickets each while Barry McCarthy chipped in with a wicket.
Both Ireland and UAE bowed out of the competition as Sri Lanka, Scotland and Oman qualified for the Super Six stage.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Schedule: In case of an India-Pakistan semi-final, here's why they will only play in Kolkata and not Mumbai
India captain Rohit Sharma reacts to 2023 ODI World Cup schedule as Men in Blue eye repeat of 2011 heroics at home
