Stirling's historic knock brings Irish level
Wednesday, 8 September 2010 09:49Paul Stirling hit a thrilling 177 as Ireland levelled their one-day international series against Canada 1-1 in Toronto.
Stirling's boundary-strewn effort - there were 21 fours and five sixes in 134 balls - beat his country's previous highest score of 142 by Kevin O'Brien.
Their final total, 325 for eight, also beat their best ODI total of 308, scored against the same opposition in February 2007.
That was enough to seal a 92-run win, with Albert Van Der Merwe returning five for 49.
Stirling's knock dominated the Ireland innings, with Andrew Poynter (30), Andre Botha (28), John Mooney and Nigel Jones (both 25) all chipping in around him.
Canada never looked likely to topple such a formidable target, though Ruvinda Gunasekera did contribute a brisk 59 from number three.
Ashish Bagai made 44 but wickets tumbled at regular intervals, not least when Van Der Merwe entered the fray and helped to bowl them out for 233 with 3.3 overs remaining.
