T20 World Cup: Replaces injured Sterling in Ireland squad

Paul Sterling will miss the rest of Ireland’s T20 World Cup campaign with Sam Topping recalled to cover.

The Ireland skipper suffered a knee ligament injury during Wednesday’s 67-run defeat to Australia to leave his side’s hopes of progressing to the Super 8s hanging by a thread.

Sterling suffered the injury in Australia’s seventh innings when he fell heavily on his knee after making a catch to dismiss Josh Inglis.

The 35-year-old left the field soon after but returned to open Ireland’s innings with the bat, but his knee buckled when going for a run on the first ball and he was forced to retire in pain.

“Paul Sterling underwent assessment and scans following the Australian match which later revealed ligament damage – and as such, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup,” said Graeme West, Cricket Ireland’s director of high performance.

“Paul will soon return home for rest and rehabilitation, before spending the summer at home.

“To replace Paul, we have called in Sam Topping, who can provide immediate cover as he is a short flight away from Chennai.”

Topping, a left-handed opener and an accomplished wicket-keeper, arrives from an off-season training camp with the Northern Knights in Chennai and will also serve as additional cover due to the hand injury suffered by Ben Calitz in the Australia match.

The 20-year-old Antrim man has never played at international level, but scored 217 runs at 31:00 in T20s at a strike rate of 140 during the last domestic season in Ireland, with a top score of 83 off 48 balls.

“Sam has been with the Northern Knights training squad and has been playing and training in similar conditions to Sri Lanka,” West added.

He added: “His skill set provides coverage for a number of areas within the team, which is important because Ben Calitz also suffered a hand injury after the last match.”

Ireland return to action in Colombo on Saturday [05:30 GMT] When they face Oman in a must-win match to keep their progress hopes alive before facing Zimbabwe in Pallekele on Tuesday [09:30].