The 25-year-old Irish captain, a figure so slight he could rarely hit the ball to the boundary in his youth, has become a destructive weapon in the professional game and he led his team immaculately with 108, including three sublime sixes. Chasing 235 after asking Bangladesh to bat first and making the most of overcast conditions, the hosts barely flinched. With the help of 19-year-old Paul Stirling, who hit 52, Porterfield continued playing his shots with the utmost confidence until the result was certain.

The little left-hander was dropped on 97, but by then the team who beat England last Saturday sensed that they were beaten, and Porterfield fully deserved his century off 105 balls. ‘I had a few rushes of blood out there but I was very happy with the way I was hitting the ball,’ he said afterwards.

‘Stirlo got us off to a flier and that took the pressure off me because we were scoring at sevens. But we kicked on today and that’s what we probably should have done against Australia.’ That was a reference to last month’s dramatic tussle with the world champions in Dublin when Porterfield and Stirling made the same serene progress towards three figures for the first wicket.

Yesterday they went further, getting halfway to their target before Stirling handed himself in. Only after seven perfectly-timed fours, though. Stirling had already notched five boundaries by the time Porterfield got off the mark, but the skipper came to the party when the man ranking No 2 in the ODI bowling rankings came on.

Porterfield drove the ball back past Shakib-al-Hasan for a four and a six, and already the Tigers were thinking ‘here we go again’. Bangladesh are no giants but as full ICC members they receive more than 8 million euro in annual funding, and the Irish have beaten them every time they have met away from the Ganges.

And Porterfield’s fifth one-day international hundred could have an enduring political effect. The ICC want to cut the number of teams who play at the World Cup and this result will help identify the folly in that threat. ‘It’s obviously a fantastic result but it’s only fantastic if tomorrow we make it two,’ said Porterfield, contemplating the second match in the RSA Series finale.

Ireland bowled well, too, but coach Phil Simmons chastised them for the three dropped catches that allowed centurion Junaed Siddique and Shakib to add 107 for the fourth wicket. Trent Johnston missed the easiest of the chances at slip, though the old warhorse was struggling with a stomach bug – not that it stopped him taking two wickets in his opening spell.

The highlight of the fielding performance was Gary Wilson’s catch to dismiss Mahmudullah – he caught the ball on the long-on boundary, then tossed it in the air as his balance took him over the rope before hopping back into play to complete the catch. Sublime stuff from Wilson, Porterfield and Stirling. Rory McIlroy wasn’t the only son of Ulster making his folks beam with pride last night.

Ian Callender (Belfast Telegrapg reports
William Porterfield became Ireland’s third heaviest runs scorer and the first player to score eight centuries for his country as Ireland won their 50th ODI in the grand manner. They didn’t just beat Bangladesh at Stormont, by seven wickets, they hammered them and, led by their inspirational captain, who scored 108 from 116 balls with seven fours and three sixes, Ireland had five overs to spare when Alex Cusack hit the winning run.

Yet although the squad were entitled to celebrate long into the night - this was their first victory over a Full Member in an ODI since they beat the Tigers at the World Cup three years ago - the overriding emotion was merely of satisfaction. The job was only half done. The teams return for the second and final game in the series and Porterfield - who left Ivan Anderson and Jeremy Bray tied for second on seven centuries - was expecting a tougher challenge.

“It was a big toss to win today and we put them under pressure from the start with the three early wickets but they will come back hard at us tomorrow and we know there is room for improvement. We dropped a couple of catches, so we will be out to eradicate that tomorrow, but the team have been batting like that for a while now and it was great to carry on the form the lads showed in Holland. “But it is only a fantastic result if we can make it 2-0 tomorrow. We need to win both games to stay above Zimbabwe in the (ODI rankings) table and that will be the target tomorrow,” said Porterfield who, when 98, passed Alan Lewis’ tally of 3,579 runs and has only Anderson and Stephen Warke in front of him in the all-time list of Ireland runs scorers.

Ireland could not have wished for a better start with Trent Johnston, despite not being 100%, striking in his first over and Boyd Rankin, back leading the attack, then claiming the big wicket of the free-scoring Tamim Iqbal, caught at second slip by Paul Stirling. When Johnston made it two wickets in 14 balls, Bangladesh were 28 for three and the victory over England at Bristol just five days earlier was a distant memory. Yet, when Junaed Siddique, who went on to complete his first ODI century, and Shakib Al Hasan were adding 107 for the third wicket, it was Ireland under pressure and Porterfield wondering just how to make the breakthrough. Johnston, at slip, and Cusack, in the deep, unusually put down straightforward catches to give Shakib a double reprieve before Stirling tempted the world’s No 1 all-rounder to hole out, immediately after bringing up his 50. Having said that, Gary Wilson deserves the highest praise for the way he judged the catch and timed his jump to make a difficult catch at long-on look ridiculously easy.

It proved the turning point of the game. From 135 for three in the 31st over, the tourists added just 99 in the remaining overs as Porterfield rung the bowling changes - he made no fewer than 17 in the innings - and by the end only George Dockrell was wicketless. The spectators, hidden behind the advertising boards, may have missed out on a Tamim assault at the start of the day but Porterfield and Stirling did not let them down.

The Ireland openers, who hit 80 off the first 11 overs against Australia last month, were 71 at the same stage and this time they went on. Stirling followed Porterfield to his 50 off exactly the same number of balls, 51, with seven fours but the drinks interval did for him, coming down the wicket four balls after the break and he was bowled. But Cusack proved the steadying influence at No 3 - he finished 45 not out and just one short of 1,500 runs for Ireland - and allowed Porterfield to play his full range of strokes before he was caught at mid-wicket just 27 runs from home. Niall O’Brien came and went but his brother Kevin was there at the end, as he was so often at the World League in Holland last week, as Ireland made it a magnificent seven wins in a row.

Barry Chambers reports
A quite inspirational batting display by Ireland skipper William Porterfield helped his team to a thoroughly convincing seven wicket win over Bangladesh at Stormont. The left hander made a quite magnificent 108 from just 116 balls, striking no fewer than 7 fours and 3 sixes. His century was his eighth for his country, beating the record of seven which he had jointly held with Ivan Anderson and Jeremy Bray.

Porterfield shared in an opening stand of 118 – made in exactly 118 balls, to give Ireland the perfect platform as they chased down a potentially tricky Bangladesh total of 234 for 9. Speaking after receiving the MOM Award, Porterfield said: "That's as good an innings as I've ever played for Ireland.I was feeling good from the word go. Paul Stirling took a lot of the pressure off me with the way he batted.

"After that Alex Cusack was solid and made sure there would be no collapse. Tomorrow will be a big challenge too, and we expect them to come back hard at us. But we'll be ready and we want to won the RSA Series 2-0." 19 year old Middlesex batsman Paul Stirling made 52 from 57 balls (7 fours) as all the Bangladesh bowlers found the conditions tough going.

Stirling was eventually bowled by Abdur Razzak for 52, attempting one big shot too many, but that proved to be a rare success for the visitors. Alex Cusack joined Porterfield, and he proved the perfect foil for Porterfield, who continued to take the attack to the Bangladeshis at every opportunity.

He reached his record breaking hundred from 105 deliveries, but on 108, his innings was ended when he mistimed a Shakib-Al-Hasan delivery straight to Mortaza at midwicket. The rousing ovation given by the Stormont crowd was richly deserved. Niall O’Brien was trapped lbw by Syed Rasel with just 18 needed, but an undefeated 45 from Alex Cusack ensured that the victory was achieved with five overs to spare.

Earlier in the day Ireland opening bowlers Boyd Rankin (3-43) and Trent Johnston (2-24) both bowled superbly to have Bangladesh in early trouble at 28 for 3. They were rescued by a stand of 107 in 153 balls between Junaid Siddique and Shakib-Al-Hasan. Siddique made a superb hundred, taking 123 balls, and which contained 9 boundaries.

Al-Hasan had several reprieves as he made exactly 50 (78 balls, 3 fours), but no other batsman was able to dominate. That was primarily due to the Irish attack keeping a tight line, backed up by an athletic display in the field. The win is coach Phil Simmons' first against a full member in a One –Day international, and helps Ireland’s ambitions to received full member status. Ireland of course beat Bangladesh during the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, and also during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 at Trent Bridge.

Jon Coates (Irish Daily Mail), Ian Callender (Belfaat Telegraph), Barry Chambers (CricketEurope)