- England start the summer with a convincing seven-wicket win
- Adil Rashid takes 5-27 as Ireland collapse from 81-2
Right, that is all from me. Hopefully Saturday won’t be so short and sweet. Might be clutching at straws here, but Ireland will be more familiar with Lord’s as a venue and a pitch – Tim Murtagh’s career has come almost exclusively from the Nursery End. For now, enjoy the rest of your Fridays!
A formality, but an important start nonetheless
Related: Adil Rashid bowls England to comfortable ODI victory over Ireland
“At the moment, I feel quite good,” says Rashid – man of the match by a distance. “Consistency has come from hard work in the nets and clear game plans.”
His best ball? He says that changes, day-to-day. Today, though, his googly was unplayable.
Apologies for the delay in getting to your email, Smylers. But, as you can understand, I needed a bit of time to address it. Here goes:
“Since today is the first England match since the sad death of OBOer Dan Lucas in March, I presume you’ll be crowbarring as many Simpsons quotes and REM lyrics as possible into your coverage?”
This sums it up.
One of Irish cricket's worse days; all the worse for not being unexpected
20th over: England 127-3 (Root 49, Bairstow 10) As season-openers go, a formality. Ireland are better than this but, worryingly for them, England did not have to get beyond third gear. Adil Rashid did the work, Alex Hales and Joe Root added the gloss.
19th over: England 124-3 (Root 48, Bairstow 8) Think the dream is dead. A boundary from Root, followed by a three through the covers brings Bairstow on strike, who drives down the ground for four. A no ball, a single, a square drive from Rooooooteh, means we need three in 12 balls... [sad face]
18th over: England 106-3 (Root 37, Bairstow 2) That’s 21 needed off 18. Or, if you’re a fan of the seethe, we’re crossing our fingers for 20. Chase again finds an edge that pierces the cordon for four.
17th over: England 99-3 (Root 32, Bairstow 0) Potential hilarity afoot: after this over, play will be “extended” by four overs so that the runs can be knocked off. However, if in that time England are still short of the target of 127, they will break for 45-minutes. Oh and that’s a maiden...
16th over: England 99-3 (Root 32, Bairstow 0) Morgan goes and Chase nearly gets Root next ball... well, I’m being a tad generous there. There was an LBW appeal. It was sliding down. No one really went up with any conviction. Meanwhile...
CENTURY | A marvelous innings from @Rootdog22 gets him his first 100 in white ball cricket from 91 balls. 302-6 #WarksvNottspic.twitter.com/XA4lctz3x5
There it is – Chase gets Morgan. A touch of extra bounce means Morgan’s attempted pull lacks the appropriate control. Kevin O’Brien, running around from fine leg, takes a decent catch.
15th over: England 96-2 (Root 29, Morgan 10) Middlesex on Middlesex as Murtagh gets a go at Morgan. First ball of the exchange, Morgan pulls him through square leg for four. Murtagh gives him a look. Morgan replies with a smile.
14th over: England 89-2 (Root 26, Morgan 6) Two from the over as Chase seeks status with either wicket of the two England captains in right now. Lunch in 10 minutes, England 38 away...
13th over: England 87-2 (Root 25, Morgan 5) Morgan off the mark with a four that belies that lack of match-practice he’s had. Uses his feet to get to the pitch of Murtagh, returning for a second spell, and drives him down the ground with ease.
12th over: England 82-2 (Root 25, Morgan 0) Element of preseason friendly about that dismissal. Hales had his score and that was enough for him. Up he plops a catch and out walks Eoin Morgan looking for some time in the middle.
Very good catch from Bill Porterfield. Hales tries to pull Chase to Bath, but top edges as high as the floodlights. Porterfield watches it all the way down, diving forward to complete the dismissal. Chase has two.
11th over: England 78-1 (Hales 55, Root 21) From 33 balls, too: he gets there with his 10th boundary, foot forward, hands following, ball humming through cover.
10th over: England 69-1 (Hales 46, Root 21) Oooossh shot of the day from Joe Root. Hear me out: Full on off stump, cover reinforced, Root goes through with a drive and opens the face at the last moment to guide it through backward point.
ICYMI Adil Rashid did wondrous things
The second-best figures for an England spinner in ODIs: Adil Rashid's 5 for 27 https://t.co/ZH9UXPjvYM#ENGvIREpic.twitter.com/GznyHWCAYh
9th over: England 61-1 (Hales 43, Root 16) Just as we’re treated to some statistics on Hales’ weakness against left arm spin, he plays a near-perfect sweep to take Dockrell for four behind square leg.
8th over: England 55-1 (Hales 38, Root 15) Change from both ends: Stuart Thompson, right arm regular, starts well, with four singles taken off him. Nothing express, but enough control to make you realise that a few more in the bank and Ireland could have forced England to take some risks.
7th over: England 51-1 (Hales 36, Root 13) George Dockrell, once on the books at Somerset and fairly high up on the “next to be poached” list, is into the attack. He’s now plying his trade at Leinster Cricket Club, on the hunt for a county gig. A solid first over from the left-arm spinner is undone somewhat by a full delivery that Root threads behind point for four.
Meanwhile...
Root's in the runs but it's @Rootdog22 not @root66 with a maiden List A 5️⃣0️⃣ for @TrentBridge v @WarwickshireCCC in @OneDayCuppic.twitter.com/RW87OsOX7H
6th over: England 46-1 (Hales 32, Root 12) Mercy call imminent. More good work from Murtagh goes unrewarded as another Hales edge flies between the keeper and first slip. Fed up with poking around, Hales decides to put his front leg to one side and swing across the line for another four through midwicket. Finishes with a lovely cover drive. The three stages of Hales.
5th over: England 31-1 (Hales 18, Root 11) If the wheels came off the Ireland bus during their batting, then they’ve just been drenched by a lorry on their rainy walk home in this over. Hales gets a glove down the leg side but Niall O’Brien fails to take a simple catch. The next ball, Hales forces one, unconvincingly, down the ground for four. Chase, though, has overstepped, so Hales has another go off the free hit. CLUBBED for his fourth boundary of the innings.
4th over: England 17-1 (Hales 10, Root 6) Belter of a pitch, this. Murtagh gets the ball to seam and carry through at chest height to the keeper. Beats the outside edge of Hales with ease. Hales tries to upset his length by charging down the pitch but, like an experienced Matador, Murtagh gets it away from him again.
The seven wickets shared by Rashid & Root most by England spinners in a home ODI https://t.co/OmIhIYEGe6#ENGvIRE
3rd over: England 15-1 (Hales 9, Root 8) Peter Chase has a bit more pace than Tim Murtagh but nowhere near the control. So when Joe Root picks him for four through midwicket, he moves his line across and puts a half-volley on the plate of Hales, who chins him through cover.
2nd over: England 5-1 (Hales 4, Root 0) A DROP! Geez, England should be two-down. Alex Hales, heavy-handed, punches straight and loose. Thankfully, Tim Murtagh (Dial M to Middlesex ultras) isn’t able to change direction in his follow-through and take the catch. Two balls later, Hales is off the mark with a drive through extra cover.
1st over: England 1-1 (Hales 0, Root 0)
In among all that, not many had realised that the second ball was a free hit. Even the scoreboard had England 0-1 as Roy traipsed off. Thankfully, we’re just about up to scratch.
Haha what a farcical first over! Peter Chase bowls a no ball to start, Jason Roy tries to hit the free hit for 12 but also smacks the fresh hard white ball onto the inside of his left knee. Then, he casually flicks the ball to George Dockrell to midwicket - the only man stationed in the ring on the leg side.
Afternoon all. Pleasure to be back with you for the start of the English summer. Hope we’re all well. Not much time for pleasantries as the players are already back out in the middle.
Lunch is 2:30pm, so we have about 20 overs in this mini-session. The target is 127.
Adil Rashid finishes with 5-27 ... second best figures by an English spinner in ODI cricket after Vic Marks (5-20 v NZ in Wellington '84)
Ireland’s tormentor in chief Adil Rashid talks:
Feels good. Feels as though it came out OK today. I thought today as a team we bowled very well and we got our reward. I’m working hard on my game every day and trying to get better, and so far it’s coming out OK. I’m working on variations, working out strengths and weaknesses, trying to be one step ahead of the batsmen, and hopefully I can carry it on.
It’s over, and Adil Rashid has himself a five-for! Murtagh nails this one, but he doesn’t nail it hard enough and Hales does the honours and long on.
Niall O’Brien goes down on one knee to hoist the ball over square leg, fails to hoist the ball anywhere, and it thumps him in the waist! Ireland’s race is almost run here.
32nd over: Ireland 121-8 (N O’Brien 16, Murtagh 7) Wood returns, with England sniffing blood and sensing the possibility of an early lunch, and Murtagh eventually loses patience, swings big and gets a massive top-edge that flies off behind him and bounces a foot or so short of a rope. Undaunted, he has another go at the next delivery but gets nowhere near it. Why hold back, eh?
Our Geoffrey has just called this England one day side 'great.' Cannot print what he has said about Irelands batting
31st over: Ireland 115-8 (N O’Brien 13, Murtagh 2) Four runs off the over, all singles. “As well as Rashid has bowled, I’m not sure 113-8 is a fair reflection of the conditions or the bowling,” harrumphs Mike Atherton of the current state of the game.
30th over: Ireland 111-8 (N O’Brien 13, Murtagh 0) Root sprints through another over, at the expense of a single run.
29th over: Ireland 110-8 (N O’Brien 12, Murtagh 0)“Did the umpire indicate whether O’Brien was caught or LBW?” wonders Steve Hudson. “Because if he isn’t certain of the mode of dismissal, it should be Not Out, even if he was bound to be out one way of the other.” I’m afraid I’ve no idea, restricted as I am to what is shown on TV, but certainly the commentators were in no doubt that it had been an lbw decision.
28th over: Ireland 109-8 (N O’Brien 11, Murtagh 0) England’s spinners are making light work of Ireland here. Niall O’Brien has taken 27 balls to score 11, while at the opposite end five team-mates have come and gone.
This is faster from Root, and by the time Dockrell reacts to it it’s too late. Ireland are neck-deep in a fetid, stinking hole now.
27th over: Ireland 108-7 (N O’Brien 10, Dockrell 0) It seems Kevin O’Brien was out lbw, and ball tracking confirms it. Thompson comes out, edges his first, thrashes his second through mid-off for four and then is gone again.
This is lovely bowling from Rash! The batsman very evidently has not the slightest idea what the ball is going to do, and thus waves his bat at it timidly as it slides into off stump!
It is not immediately obvious if Kevin O’Brien was out lbw, or if he got a little bat on the ball and was thus caught. Either way, however, he’s got his marching orders.
26th over: Ireland 103-5 (N O’Brien 9, K O’Brien 4) Ireland want to bat their way back into the game, England want so many overs to woosh by before they do so that by the time they do they can’t.
25th over: Ireland 99-5 (N O’Brien 7, K O’Brien 3) A fifth successive over of spin, and a Rashid googly catches Niall O’Brien’s top edge but lands just short of backward point. Halfway through the innings now in terms of both overs and wickets.
24th over: Ireland 96-5 (N O’Brien 6, K O’Brien 2) Ireland picked a batsman-heavy team, and at this rate they’re going to need every one of them. Ten of the last 11 overs have been boundary-free, and three have featured wickets.
23rd over: Ireland 94-5 (N O’Brien 5, K O’Brien 1) It looked, as the ball looped into the air off Wilson’s front pad and Billings rushed towards it, as if England needed to catch it. But by the time it landed uncaught the appeal had already started and indeed concluded, with Aleem Dar’s finger up before the ball was down.
He didn’t get anything on it.
The batsman’s decision to review is instant, so he clearly thinks he got something on it.
22nd over: Ireland 92-4 (O’Brien 4, Wilson 1) It’s probably fair to say that Porterfield’s scratchy 45-ball, boundary-free 13 was not enormously helpful to the Irish cause.
Root does some twirling, and his second delivery does for Porterfield, who spoons the ball down the throat of Plunkett at mid-off!
21st over: Ireland 90-3 (Porterfield 13, O’Brien 3) Rashid continues, and Morgan executes a delightful diving stop to turn an easy couple of runs to a dot ball and a near-miss run-out.
20th over: Ireland 85-3 (Porterfield 9, O’Brien 2) Ball continues, and once again gets the ball to move away from a left-handed batsman – O’Brien this time – but with no reward. There’s another fine delivery to end the over, again just beating the bat.
19th over: Ireland 84-3 (Porterfield 8, O’Brien 2) There’s no easy way of saying this, but I missed the first half of the over because I was on the phone. Apparently I missed a caught-and-bowled near-miss, as Porterfield popped the ball straight back down the wicket, but it landed just short of Rashid, who was bowling his first over of the day.
18th over: Ireland 82-3 (Porterfield 7, O’Brien 1) Ball aborts his run-out as a particularly venomous gust of wind threatens to whisk him off to Oz, heads back to the start of his run-up, and immediately gets a wicket.
Is that the most B-dominated wicket of all time? Balbirnie tries to cut a ball that’s too close to his body, and only succeeds in top-edging it through to the keeper.
17th over: Ireland 81-2 (Porterfield 7, Balbirnie 30) It seems to be getting windier.
16th over: Ireland 78-2 (Porterfield 7, Balbirnie 27) Ireland have hit 12 boundaries so far, but have only hit boundaries in six overs. In other words, they have come in twos – and Ball’s third over starts with another pair, both from the bat of Balbirnie, who smashes the first square and then flicks the second fine off his pads.
15th over: Ireland 69-2 (Porterfield 7, Balbirnie 18)“There is a Jonny Bairstow sub-plot to the Ireland and South Africa ODIs,” notes Tim Sanders. “In 2013 he carried drinks for the Champions Trophy squad, played no cricket in June. It seemed wrong to keep a Bairstow in captivity and it did his form no good at all. I think he (along with Joe Root) is our best batsman when the ball isn’t coming through straight and true, but otherwise we have loads of big hitters in good form keeping him out of the ODI team. I’d rather he either played in the Champions Trophy team, or played county cricket, but I fear that he’ll once again he’ll have a cricket-free month.”
14th over: Ireland 68-2 (Porterfield 7, Balbirnie 17) That last-over edge apart this pair have looked pretty steady. Four runs in Ball’s second over, all singles.
13th over: Ireland 64-2 (Porterfield 5, Balbirnie 15) Plunkett comes on at the other end, and he swiftly finds the edge of Balbirnie’s bat. The ball flies straight to that non-existent second slip again, and off for a second successive four, the first having gone in a similar direction, but more deliberately. The bowler looks miffed.
12th over: Ireland 54-2 (Porterfield 4, Balbirnie 5) The first bowling change sees Ball replace Wood and he delivers the ball of the day so far, angled into the left-handed Porterfield and moving away off the seam, just past the bat. Lovely stuff, that.
11th over: Ireland 53-2 (Porterfield 4, Balbirnie 5) Willey’s sixth over. On Sky they say it is unusual for him to bowl more than five in a spell, or indeed an innings, and though this was true-ish over the winter in England he normally gets through his full allocation.
10th over: Ireland 50-2 (Porterfield 4, Balbirnie 2) The powerplay ends with a run of four runs in three overs, with Wood’s latest costing but a single.
9th over: Ireland 49-2 (Porterfield 4, Balbirnie 1) Singles off Willey’s first and final deliveries carry Ireland to the verge of a half-century of runs.
@Simon_Burnton England team has great batting, but they aren't going through a tournament without the bowling being clumped at some point
8th over: Ireland 47-2 (Porterfield 3, Balbirnie 0) Wood, bowling into the wind, abandons one run-up at the last moment, delivering instead a choice expletive audible through the stump microphones. Blown off course, presumably. Another fine over, though, with only a single off the last denying him a maiden.
7th over: Ireland 46-2 (Porterfield 2, Balbirnie 0) Sky’s team was talking pre-match about how Willey is able to find in all conditions, but so far this seems to be the exception. Even the wicket ball didn’t seem to offer anything other than an opportunity to score easy runs – but only if you get some bat on it. This looks a fine pitch for batting, but neither of Ireland’s openers are still around to enjoy it.
Low and straight, and when Joyce mistimes his attempted flick to midwicket the ball raps him on his pads and he’s gone!
6th over: Ireland 41-1 (Joyce 18, Porterfield 1) Joyce prods the ball to midwicket and sets off for a single, with Bairstow roaring in, gathering the ball and flinging it at the stumps, only for it to miss and zip off for a rather irritating boundary. From there, though, it’s good times.
Mark Wood clean bowls Stirling! More here: https://t.co/yTCYTXwuvipic.twitter.com/n398nSdGjY
Sterling mistimes this one, beaten by a nip of extra pace, and his middle stump takes a pasting!
5th over: Ireland 35-0 (Joyce 14, Stirling 20) Willey bowls straight, and Stirling bashes it back past him for four. Then he deliberately nudges the next deftly past slip for four more, and the third disappears through the covers. That’s three successive boundaries right there, with the bowler searching for movement, or indeed alternative sources of encouragement, and finding none.
4th over: Ireland 23-0 (Joyce 14, Stirling 8)“Two questions for the OBOers,” challenges Michael Avery, as Wood evidently hones his radar following a rather loose first over. “Firstly, who is going to win the Rav-Bop trophy for putting in an impressive performance against Ireland but not getting picked for a championship team? Second, what did Jake Ball do to justify being in the ODI side and why does he keep getting picked? Can we not all just be adults and accept that he’s taking Dernbach’s place in the side?” Relax, Ball’s only in the side on some kind of trial basis; if he’s still there come the Champions Trophy it’ll be because he deserves to.
3rd over: Ireland 21-0 (Joyce 12, Stirling 8) All the runs come off the first ball and the last: Stirling gets off the mark in brutal style, battering the ball through the covers, and then he edges the last straight into the hands of the man at second slip, who sadly for England does not exist.
2nd over: Ireland 13-0 (Joyce 12, Stirling 0) Mark Wood does the honours in over two, his first international cricket since last September. His second delivery is flicked down the leg side by Joyce and races away for four, and then his last is worked square with identical reward. “So is the heel reinforcement in Mark Wood’s bowling shoe, or does he actually have a reinforced heel and could therefore now be classed as a bionic man?” wonders Phil Sawyer. “That would be quite exciting, and technically I don’t think that bionic enhancements are actually forbidden in the Laws as yet.” Sadly it’s the shoe, unless there’s something they’re not telling us.
1st over: Ireland 5-0 (Joyce 4, Stirling 0) Joyce tries to work the ball to midwicket, gets a leading edge and watches it rumble instead past mid on for a couple. He then tries to work the next to midwicket, and actually does, for a single. The only ball anyone really goes for is the last, which Joyce smacks hard and true, straight to the man at square leg.
David Willey has the ball in his hands. Let’s [watch other people] play!
Out they come! We have international cricket on our dirty paws!
Mark Wood has a quick chat: “Mentally this one was probably the hardest of the three [injuries]. I feel like I’ve stood still for a year without progressing, so that was really hard to take. Then trying to get back almost too quickly. I’m pretty pleased to be back with the lads.”
He now has a reinforced heel to stop his ankle rocking, and tweaked his action to make a recurrence less likely.
So those teams in full:
England: JJ Roy, AD Hales, JE Root, EJG Morgan*, JM Bairstow, SW Billings†, AU Rashid, DJ Willey, LE Plunkett, JT Ball, MA Wood.
Ireland: WTS Porterfield*, PR Stirling, EC Joyce, NJ O’Brien†, GC Wilson, A Balbirnie, KJ O’Brien, SR Thompson, GH Dockrell, TJ Murtagh, PKD Chase.
“It’s an opportunity for Sam Billings to come out and [make himself] a potential replacement for Jos Buttler,” Morgan continues. “This year we need guys in form. It’s an important year, in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup, and we’re looking forward to it.”
“We were actually looking to bowl first,” says Eoin Morgan. “We don’t know what is a good score here and we don’t mind chasing.” Mark Wood returns, and Adil Rashid plays with Moeen Ali left out.
“It looks a good surface so we’ll look to make first use of that and get a total on the board,” says William Porterfield. “We’ll be looking to post a decent total.”
Sky’s broadcast just started. Looks a bit breezy.
Weatherwatch: relax, it’s going to be fine.
Hello world!
And so it begins. Another summer dawns, with the arrival of Ireland for a first-ever England-hosted series a titillating taster of a long and highlight-strewn few months of cricket, which will end some 75 miles and 147 days away on 29 September with another ODI, the last of five against the West Indies, at the Ageas Bowl. England are scheduled to be playing – assuming all Tests go to five days and they reach the Champions Trophy final, which is obviously lunacy, but you never know – on 54, or a bit over a third, of all days between now and the end of September. So rip up your diaries, cancel all engagements, and settle yourselves down. You’re not going anywhere.
Related: England will run through some ODI options in first home series with Ireland
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