Ireland batting coach Gary Wilson has said that skipper Paul Stirling’s knee injury doesn’t look great, with a report on X-rays conducted set to appear on Thursday. Stirling injured his knee after landing on it after a successful catch during the defeat to Australia in Colombo.
Stirling was able to dismiss a hard-hitting Josh Inglis, who was striking at 217.64, with a stunner at cover off George Dockrell in the seventh over. He flew in the air and pounced for a great catch, only to land on his knee and injure it.
Stirling’s availability for the remainder of the T20 World Cup remains uncertain. As per an ESPNCricinfo report, he underwent an X-ray on Wednesday night.
Stirling injured his right knee while leaping to his right to complete a catch off
Inglis in the seventh over of Australia’s innings. Though he later walked out to open the batting as usual, he was in visible discomfort, limping through his first single as he made his way to the non-striker’s end.
Stirling opted to retire hurt soon after and didn’t return to bat. Ireland’s chase fizzled out as they were bowled out for a modest 115 in pursuit of 183.
“It does not look great. He (Stirling) went for a scan this evening, so we will have to wait for confirmation. He thought he was OK when he went out there to bat. He was not going to go out if he did not think he was right,” Wilson said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“He (Stirling) was trying to maximise the Powerplay, basically. He was trying to take off for a single, but clearly the knee seized up even more,” Wilson added.
Although Ireland have lost their opening matches to Sri Lanka and Australia, both at Khettarama, they still have a statistical chance of making the Super Eights. Ireland’s next match is against Oman on Saturday, February 14, at the SSC, before they travel to Kandy to play Zimbabwe at Pallekele on Tuesday.
