Ireland on Wednesday wreaked havoc against England while playing their first-ever Test match at the Lord’s in London. The visiting team bowled the World Cup winners out for just 85 runs in their first innings.
After winning the toss, England decided to bat first but their batting collapsed spectacularly leaving them all out for 85. Joe Denly was the highest scorer with 23 runs. Three English batsmen Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes returned to the dressing room without bothering the scorer.
For Ireland, Tim Murtagh picked up five wickets in his Test debut, while Mark Adair scalped three wickets. The remaining two went to Boyd Rankin.
The English team taking on Ireland have five players who helped the hosts lift their first-ever World Cup trophy in the limited-over format of the game only a week ago. They are Jason Roy, Joe Root, who’s captaining the side, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes.
In reply, England took two early wickets of Ireland, but the visitors appear to have settled well and gone past the England total. At the end of the first day’s play, Ireland were 201 for nine, taking a lead of 118 runs.
Poor batting wasn’t the only woe for the hosts. They also disappointed their fans with their fielding as they dropped two catches off the bowling of Stuart Broad.
This Test match, which will be only a four-day event, will be England’s last engagement in white jersey before the much-awaited Ashes series against Australia.
Former England captain Alistair Cook expressed deep apprehensions on the England batting line-up ahead of their Ashes encounter. He told BBC, It’s not ideal for England to be going into the Ashes with Jason Roy having only had one match as an opener. But we’ve got to stick with him – he will find a way. Facing Tim Murtagh, who can move the ball with such skill, is a nightmare way to start in Test cricket.”
Scores in brief:
England 85 (Murtagh 5-13, Adair 3-32, Rankin 2-5) & 0-0
Ireland 207 (Balbirnie 55; Curran 3-28, Stone 3-29, Broad 3-52)
