Ireland captain Paul Stirling is keen to add ODI success to their landmark T20 series victory as their tour of Zimbabwe continues with 50 overs series commencing in Harare on Thursday.
Harry Tector and George Dockrell century partnership secured victory in the third and final T20 match against the hosts last Saturday, sealing a 2-1 comeback win and a first ever overseas T20 series triumph over a Test playing nation.
Notwithstanding the historic nature of the win, opening batsman Stirling believes there is still plenty of scope for improvement for the side ahead of the three-match ODI series.
"The most pleasing thing was we weren't at 100%," Stirling told Cricket Ireland.
"I said before the series started that we needed to be at our best to win these games, and I still believe that we have a lot to improve on.
"That's our challenge now, particularly in the first match of the series.
"We haven’t had the best of results, so if can somehow turn that around and take a 1-0 lead in the series tomorrow, which is our objective tomorrow, I think that will stand us in good stead, and tick off a couple of areas that we’ve already looked to improve on."
Ireland have already a recent overseas ODI series victory over one of sport's bluebloods, Tector again to the fore in the 2-1 victory over West Indies in summer 2022.
They're looking to emulate the feat in Harare, with Stirling acknowledging that Thursday's first match is pivotal.
"That was our objective coming here. It's the first time that we won an overseas series against a Test playing nation in the T20 format. We managed to do that in the ODI format against the West Indies, and now the challenge is try and win this series either 2-1 or 3-0.
"The first game of the series is so vital. We want to try and go into the rest of the series with a 1-0 lead. That’s definitely something I can’t really remember us doing in the past, so if we step up and play our best game tomorrow that’s all that matters.
"We know that when Zimbabwe are at their best, they are a very strong side. I’m sure they’ll have a couple of their most experienced players back in the side and the challenge will be even trickier. We’ve played a lot of 50-over cricket here, particularly this year, so we know how the game will transform.
"I think it really comes down to who plays the best cricket on the day. I don’t think there’ll be any real surprises. We know that it will start at 9.15am, it will be good to bat for periods of time, and it might get trickier as the day goes on. Both teams are pretty well set and well versed in what’s going to come."
