Ireland battle on in Sterling performance

ANDREW BALBIRNIE produced his best innings for Ireland to keep alive the five-match one-day international series against Afghanistan in Greater Noida. Balbirnie saw Ireland home with an undefeated 85 from just 74 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six, but was pipped to the man-ofthe-match award by Paul Stirling who became the second Irishman to be dismissed for 99. Two days earlier, Stirling (below) had been wrongly given out leg before for 95 but a sixth ODI century still eludes him after he was bowled by Mohammad Nabi. However Balbirnie, carried on and dominated an unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 86 with Gary Wilson (28) as Ireland reached their victory target of 265 with nine balls to spare. ‘After losing five games in a row, it was vital to get a win and coming in for Kevin (O’Brien) in the last couple of games, I’d say it was probably my best innings for Ireland,’ said Balbirnie. Meanwhile, Boyd Rankin is returning home with a back problem and will be replaced in the squad for the last two ODIs, on Wednesday and Friday, and next week’s Intercontinental Cup match by Peter Chase who took the first two wickets yesterday. SCORES: Afghanistan 264-8 (50 overs, Rashid Khan 56, Gulbadin Naib 51, Shafiqullah 50 not out; T Murtagh 2-49, P Chase 2-55) Ireland 265-4 (48.3 overs, P Stirling 99, A Balbirnie 85 not out, N O’Brien 30, G Wilson 28 not out). Ireland won by 6 wickets. Afghanistan lead the five-match series 2-1. TOP 14 outfits Racing 92 and Stade Francais yesterday announced that their proposed merger is off. The two French powerhouses shocked the rugby world last week when they revealed plans to pool their resources from next term and form a Top 14 Paris super club. The fallout from last week’s announcement had seen a postponement of both of the clubs’ respective Top 14 fixtures scheduled at the weekend. KENYANS Elisha Barno and Hellen Jepkurgat have won the men’s and women’s titles at the Los Angeles Marathon. Barno pulled away from 2015 winner Daniel Limo of Kenya in the final mile of yesterday’s race, crossing the finish line at the Santa Monica Pier in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds. Jepkurgat won the women’s race in 2:34.23, nearly two minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Jane Kibii, who finished in 2:36.14.