Captain of Ireland Paul Stirling has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup after suffering a knee injury against Australia on February 11.
Stirling was playing cover in the seventh over when he dived high to his right to take a spectacular catch and dismiss Josh Inglis. However, when he came down, he landed on the point of his knee on a piece of hard ground. Shortly afterwards he left the field and vice-captain Lorcan Tucker took over on-field leadership duties.
Going into the second innings, Stirling told team management that he felt he was capable of batting and walked out to open with Ross Adair. On the first ball, Stirling dug out a full-length ball on leg stump to mid-on and departed for a single. As he took a few steps his knee gave way and the Irish captain had to retreat injured.
“Paul Stirling underwent an assessment and scan following the match in Australia which revealed ligament damage. As such, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup. Paul will return home shortly for rest and rehabilitation ahead of the home summer,” Graeme West, Director of High Performance at Cricket Ireland, said in a press release.
“To replace Paul, we have called up Sam Topping, who can provide immediate cover as he is a short flight away from Chennai. Sam has been with the Northern Knights training squad and has played and trained in similar conditions to Sri Lanka. The skills he provides provide cover in a number of areas within the squad, which is important as Ben Calitz also has a knock on his hand after the last game.”
The 20-year-old left-handed opener is currently in Chennai on an off-season training camp with the Northern Knights training squad. He is also an experienced wicketkeeper and played the last domestic season in Ireland where he scored 217 runs at 31:00 in T20s with a strike rate of 140. His highest score of 83 came from just 48 balls and was one of two half-centuries he scored in seven innings. He is currently uncapped at international level.
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