Stirling hits milestone as Ireland beat West Indies

First one-day international, Clontarf

Ireland 303-6 (50.0 overs) Balbirnie 112, Tector 56; Forde 3-68

West Indies 179 all out (34.1 overs) Chase 55, Forde 38; McCarthy 4-32

Ireland won by 124 runs

Scorecard

Paul Stirling became the first Irish player to reach 10,000 international runs as Ireland comfortably beat West Indies in the opening one-day international at Clontarf.

A 109-run partnership between Andrew Balbirnie (112) and record-breaking captain Stirling (54) set Ireland on course for victory as they reached 303-6.

Stirling has scored 5,979 runs in ODIs, 3,656 in T20s and 382 runs in Test cricket.

West Indies, who were facing the Irish in Dublin for the first time since 2019, were all out for just 179, as Barry McCarthy claimed 4-32.

The sides will meet again on Friday at Clontarf in the second ODI, with the third game of the series being played at the same venue on Sunday.

Ireland lost the toss and were asked to bat first, but through the fruitful pairing of Balbirnie and Stirling they moved to 109 before the latter was dismissed by Gudakesh Motie.

Cade Carmichael, who was making his debut alongside Tom Mayes and Liam McCarthy, was out for 16, but Harry Tector managed 56 with Lorcan Tucker also adding 30 to help Ireland set a high target.

Mayes claimed his first wicket for Ireland as he dismissed West Indies captain Shai Hope in the powerplay and the difficulties continued as West Indies slipped to 31-5 in the powerplay before Roston Chase (55) and Matthew Forde (38) steadied their innings.

McCarthy removed Brandon King, Keacy Carty, Amir Jangoo and Forde as the West Indies were bowled out for 179 with 15.5 overs remaining, falling to a 124-run defeat.