Ireland brought down the curtain on their campaign in spectacular fashion yesterday.
Paul Stirling smashed a whirlwind 101 as Ireland chased 306 to record a six-wicket victory over the Netherlands.
Stirling shared an Irish record opening stand of 177 with William Porterfield, the captain, which laid the foundation for a successful run chase. Ireland reached 307 for four in 47.4 overs with Niall O'Brien ensuring the win with an unbeaten 57.
"It was a great innings from Paul," Porterfield said. "He showed a lot of character. We are pretty happy with our performances. Had we won a couple of close games, who knows, we could have qualified."
Earlier, Ryan ten Doeschate stroked a fluent 106 to steer the Dutch innings. Said Peter Borren, the Netherlands captain: "We felt we had a chance with our score but a lot of credit has to go to Stirling."
Kevin O'Brien, Ireland's match-winner against England, said: "We had a great time in India. We just love the people here."
