Irish tons are hard to come by, but one man in their cricketing history that has mastered the art of going big is the legendary Paul Stirling. However, even the well-set opener could do nothing against an Ottniel Baartman peach in Abu Dhabi on Monday that castled him 12 runs short of a century.
Ireland put the horror showing in the first two ODIs behind them to put up an impressive batting display in the final ODI at Abu Dhabi as they looked well on-course for a 300-plus score heading into the final 10 overs. The foundation was laid by a brilliant century stand between openers Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie, followed by crucial cameos from the top and middle order. However, none of their players bar the skipper managed to convert their stars into big scores, and even Stirling was halted midway through his journey to a 15th ODI ton by a certain Ottniel Baartman.
The Proteas pacer excelled early on with his typical length, but the predictability of it saw Stirling dance down the track on the second ball of the 35th over to take his score to 88 with a boundary. However, Bartmaan persisted, dropping the ball slightly shorter on his ensuing effort around the fourth stump line from over the wicket. The Irish veteran decided to pay heed to the dangerous length and leant forward for a defence but to his chagrin, the Kookaburra nipped in off the deck with the angle to comprehensively pierce the gap between bat and pad and shatter into the middle stump.
Stirling was left distraught at having fallen at such a crucial stage in the innings while Baartman cherished a second scalp into the game, much to Twitterati’s amusement.
What a ball!
Great batter!
30th ODI fifty for Ireland captain, Paul Stirling and his first against SA!#IREvSA pic.twitter.com/MX2GQHfiq5
— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) October 7, 2024
He’s brilliant with the bat!
You may not like it.. etc etc
Seriously, Paul Stirling is an exceptional cricketer. I’d run towards bullets for this bloke. pic.twitter.com/9wLGO88jin— Tooves (@OneTooves) October 2, 2024
He is something else!
That was nice ball!
Baartman gets another wicket! ⚡️
Paul Stirling is OUT👆
Ireland are 179/3 after 34 overs. #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #SAvsIRE— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 7, 2024
Tho little luck initially really well played Paul Stirling 👏. Now make this count with a big one #IREvsSA
— 🆁🅾🅻🅴🆇ᶜʳⁱᶜᵏᵉᵗᵍᵉᵉᵏ (@RoshanSriram123) October 7, 2024
Lol! He batted well too!
Paul Stirling has finally won a toss! Ireland bat first today
— Ian Callender (@Ian_Callender) October 7, 2024
He looked so good there!
Been eating off of Paul Sterling on the bat🤤 gets to his 50 off 60👏🏽 #IREvsSA
— I.am.Glen. (@GlenK2914) October 7, 2024
ɪʀᴇʟᴀɴᴅ 🇮🇪 ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss & ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴀᴛ 🏏 ғɪʀsᴛ √#IreVsSa #Oneday
— ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss (@won_the_toss) October 7, 2024
