Ireland marched powerfully towards their target in the first half of their chase, Paul Stirling's blazing, unbeaten 93 and a fluent half-century from captain William Porterfield carrying them to 168 without loss.
Stirling swung from the hip from the very start of his knock, literally, as the first ball he faced was answered with a wild hook and a top edge that sailed straight over the wicketkeeper for six. His second ball, an over later, was chipped over midwicket and he barely slowed down thereafter, hitting very little straight down the ground but repeatedly puncturing the field on both sides of the wicket. He plundered 19 from Bernard Loots' second over, including a second six over deep midwicket, and shortly after brought up a 25-ball half century, the second fastest in the tournament.
Porterfield was rather more circumspect but on a benign surface had no problems putting the bad ball away, and after 68 out of 81 runs came in boundaries in the first 10 overs Netherlands were forced to postpone their use of the Bowling Powerplay simply to try and slow Ireland down.
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