Sylhet Test: Paul Stirling slams fifty vs Bangladesh
What's the story
Veteran Ireland batter Paul Stirling made his bat talk on Day 1 of the opening Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet. Stirling, who opened for Ireland in Tests for just the second time, played a 60-run knock before getting dismissed. He gave his team a fine start before falling in the second session of the day. Here we look at his stats.
Knock
A fine hand from Stirling
Bangladesh made a strong start in the game with Hasan Mahmud dismissing Andy Balbirnie for a duck. Stirling then joined forces with debutant Cade Carmichael as the duo steadied the ship with a 96-run stand. Both batters got to their respective fifties before getting dismissed. Meanwhile, Stirling batted with great intent as he found regular boundaries. Pacer Nahid Rana eventually trapped him.
Stats
Stirling gets past 400 Test runs
Stirling smoked nine fours en route to his 60 off 76 balls. This was his third 50-plus score in the format, which has taken his tally to 442 runs from nine games at 26 (100: 1). This is the veteran's maiden outing against Bangladesh. Overall in First-Class cricket, Stirling now has 3,499 runs at an average of 29-plus (100s: 8, 50s: 17).