Ireland’s opening batsman made a rapid hundred, a 115 off 75 balls on Wednesday as the men in green crushed Zimbabwe by 40 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
It was Stirling’s day as he slammed his maiden T20 century in the third match against Zimbabwe. On the back of that magnificent performance, Ireland gained a 2-1 lead with two games to go.
As it happened, Zimbabwe won the flip of the coin, and Craig Ervine opted to bowl first. Ireland’s opening duo Stirling and Kevin O’Brien started the innings cautiously but couldn’t score at a good rate. They lost their first wicket on the penultimate ball of the powerplay on 32 as O’Brien holed out to Luke Jongwe on 9 (10).
Captain Andy Balbirnie joined Stirling in the middle, and the duo stitched together a good partnership and built a base to go hard in death overs. Balbirnie, who scored 31 off 24, was dismissed in the 16th over off Ryan Burl when the scoreboard read 109/2 in 15 overs.
Meanwhile, Stirling, one of the best ball strikers in the world, really struggled to get going in the first half of his innings. He brought up his fifty off 47 deliveries. But he changed the gears and made up for the slow start.
Stirling laid into Zimbabwe pacers, especially Tendai Chatara, taking 25 runs off his over to bring up his first-ever T20 century off 70 balls. He finished the innings on an unbeaten 115 off 75. Shane Getkate also chipped in with 19 off 11 as the hosts put 178/8 on the board.
The target was huge, and Zimbabwe needed a strong start from their openers. Wesley Madhevere smashed three back to back fours in the first over to give Zimbabwe a hope that they could chase this down.
But it didn’t last long as he was dismissed in the next over off Mark Adair’s bowling on 13 (7). Tadiwanashe Marumani (14 off 12) followed him in the fourth over. Zimbabwe managed 50/2 in the first six overs, which was a good powerplay.
Dion Myers 14 off 10 and Regis Chakabva 7 off 13 couldn’t do much. Captain Ervine scored 33 off 18, but he was left with too much to do. Ryan Burl also scored 26 off 23 down the order as the visitors were eventually bowled out for 138. Adair was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland with 3/11 in his three overs. Joshua Little, Shane Getkate and Benjamin White took two scalps each.
With two more games to go, Zimbabwe will have an opportunity to make a comeback. The two will meet in the fourth match on Thursday at the Bready Cricket Club in Northern Ireland.
Brief Scores
Ireland – 178/2 in 20 overs (Stirling 115*, Balbirnie 31; Burl 1/30)
Zimbabwe – 138 in 18.2 overs (Ervine 33, Burl 26; Adair 3/11)
Ireland won by 40 runs.
