Stirling's century gives Ireland winning start in Toronto

Canada, USA and Papua New Guinea also winners on opening day of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier

Paul Stirling smashed a magnificent century to inspire Ireland to a 75-run victory over the Netherlands in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier at the Maple Leaf 4 in Toronto.

There were also wins for host Canada, Papua New Guinea and USA on an eventful opening day of the tournament.

Stirling hit 102 off 117 balls as Ireland, batting first, scored an impressive 254-5 against the Netherlands. James Shannon provided excellent support with a quick-fire 50 off just 41 balls.

Opening bowler Shane Getkate then reduced Netherlands to 13-4 and although Philip van den Brandeler made a brave 85, the Dutch never looked like reaching the target as it closed on 179-9.

"I am just happy we got the win to be honest. It was hard early on but we managed to keep wickets in hands and make a big score. We thought 250 was well above par," said the 18-year-old Stirling.

"Our aim is to just keep winning and make the qualifier. One of our ambitions is to come here and win the tournament and send a message to the Test teams that when we qualify we are going to be up for the event. "

The USA won an exciting game against Vanuatu by 47 runs after a brilliant all-round display by Corns Ryan.

Ryan top scored for his side making 45 as the USA made a disappointing 168 all out against Vanuatu, with Simpson Obed taking 4-29. However, after a promising start, Vanuatu suffered a batting collapse as it was dismissed for 121 all out, with Ryan taking 3-7.

The USA captain Shiva Vashishat was delighted with his side's win and spoke about the importance of his side qualifying for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup. "We are very happy with our win today. It was a tight game but we managed to make it look pretty comfortable in the end," he said.

"It is very important for the USA to be participating in global events and if we succeed then it will be very good for the USA, especially if we get some success there.

"One of the motivations for the younger guys is that our CEO (Don Lockerbie) wants us to come and make it through to the senior team and make it a younger USA national side.

"I think cricket in the USA is actually growing very, very fast, especially in the East, where it is being played in high schools already. In the west, where I live, it is also growing fast and we have a lot of youth camps. The USA cricket is growing a lot faster than most people know which is why it is an important chance to show how fast we are growing by doing well at this event."

Host Canada survived an early scare when it crumbled to 106 all out against Uganda, before it responded by bowling out the opposition for 62 all out to record a 44-run victory with Hiral Patel (5-20) and Arsalan Qadir (4-19) starring with the ball.

"To win your first match is a start that any team in the tournament would want and that is exactly what we have got. We think Uganda will be one of the better teams in this event so it was good for us to get a victory," Canada captain Rustum Bhatti said.

"The pitch was a bit tough to bat on but I thought 150 or 175 would be a good total. To get 106 was not one of our better performances and we will be working hard in our next game to try and improve this."

Papua New Guinea made a winning start to the tournament with an impressive victory over Hong Kong which had won the Asia qualifying event.

A fine knock of 88 by Irfan Ahmed held the Hong Kong innings together as it made 160 all out with only two players making double figures. Raymond Haoda was the pick of PNG bowling with figures of 5-24.

Tony Ura's 65 was then instrumental in guiding PNG to a four-wicket victory as it reached its target with 9.4 overs remaining.

"I expected to do well for my team. I am hoping that we will do well in this event and win the tournament as we have a very good side and we have good batting and bowling," said Haoda.

"I would like to qualify for the World Cup so I can play against the best teams in the world and make my teammates proud."

Due to ongoing visa issues, the tournament fixture schedule is still subject to revision. In Wednesday's matches, Netherlands faces Hong Kong, PNG plays Canada, Vanuatu takes on Uganda and the game between USA and Sierra Leone is abandoned and is subject to rescheduling.

Scores in brief:

At Malton: Canada 106 all out, 42.5 overs (Nitesh Kumar 40)
Uganda 62 all out, 32 overs (Hiral Patel 5-20, Arsalan Qadir 4-19)
Canada won by 44 runs

At Maple Leaf 2: USA 168 all out, 48.5 overs (Ryan Corns 45, Asad Ghous 31; Simpson Obed 4-29)
Vanuatu 121 all out, 35.4 overs (Lazaro Carlot 50; Ryan Corns 3-7)

USA won by 47 runs

At Maple Leaf 3, Hong Kong 160 all out, 49.4 overs (Irfan Ahmed 88, Waqas Barkat 31; Raymond Haoda 5-24)

PNG 161-6, 40.2 overs (Tony Ura 65)
Papua New Guinea won by four wickets

At Maple Leaf 4, Ireland 254-5, 50 overs (Paul Stirling 102, James Shannon 50)
Netherlands 179-9, 50 overs (Philip van den Brandeler 85, Lucas Brouwers 39 not out; Shane Getkate 3-29)
Ireland won by 75 runs

More details on the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 can be found at www.icc-cricket.com

The official event website will have ball-by-ball scores from one match per day, along with regular score updates from all other matches. There will also be photographs and videos of the tournament available on the website.