T20 WC: Ireland captain Stirling rues missed chances, awry execution in death overs

Colombo: Ireland captain Paul Stirling admitted his side fell short in key moments during their 20-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup Group B clash, saying missed chances in the field and execution going away in death overs with the ball caused their downfall.

“To be honest, probably halfway through, we thought maybe they got 15-20 too many. So look, I think at the very start of the day, we would have been happy chasing 160. That’s sort of what the note said on the wicket out here, that 160 was chaseable. So yeah, I think we could find 20 runs pretty much anywhere in the match,” said Stirling in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Reflecting on their poor death overs bowling, which led to Sri Lanka making 163/6, especially after not giving a single boundary in the middle overs, Stirling said, “I think when the match was on the lines, we probably weren’t as clinical as we wanted to be. A little bit sloppy in the field, which is disappointing, but plenty of areas that we need to come back with in a couple of days’ times against Australia.

“Look, I think experience told today – Sri Lankan teams at the end, in both innings, I think that was the difference really. Those 20 runs they defended well at the backend. We had plenty of wickets in hand. We thought we were in good positions all the way through, and then they really upped the ante and put that squeeze on.”

Asked about the decisive moment in the game, Stirling said, “Oh, a bit of everything, to be honest. I think you could sit back and reflect and pick those 20 runs out of anywhere. But at the end of the day, it felt like they were 20 runs better than us throughout the whole match. So plenty for us to work on and come back stronger.”

He also underlined the role of spin in the tournament. “I think spin is going to be a challenge in this competition. Certainly, it wasn’t coming on to the bat as much as we thought it could have been. So, looks like spin is going to be dominating parts and phases of this game.”

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