Ireland’s stunning 122-run lead
25 July, 2019
Ireland were dismissed for 207 in reply to England’s woeful 85, a first-innings lead of 122 runs, on the opening day of a one-off Test at Lord’s on Wednesday.
Andrew Balbirnie top-scored with 55 -- the only fifty on either side so far in the match -- with pacemen Sam Curran, Olly Stone and Stuart Broad taking three wickets apiece.
Earlier, Tim Murtagh took five wickets on his Lord’s home ground before lunch as Ireland made a sensational start in their first-ever Test against England by bowling out the home side for 85.
The 37-year-old Murtagh, who plays at Lord’s for Middlesex, finished with five wickets for 13 runs in nine overs after England captain Joe Root had won the toss.
Only three England batsmen made it into double figures -- Joe Denly (23), Olly Stone (19) and Sam Curran (18) -- in an innings that was finished inside 24 overs.
But of those only Denly is a top-order batsman, with fast bowler Stone making his Test debut.
This was the fourth time in 34 Tests that England had lost all 10 wickets in a session -- a worrying sign ahead of next week’s start of the Ashes -- with Bangladesh at Mirpur in 2016, New Zealand at Auckland in 2018 and India at Nottingham, also in 2018, the other three instances.
“I’m not quite sure what’s happened in the last two hours,” an elated Murtagh told Sky Sports during the lunch interval.
England’s collapse followed their 77 all out away to the West Indies in Barbados in January.
This Test was only scheduled for a maximum of four days rather than the usual five but at this rate there was no danger of the match petering out into a draw.
On a ground where they won the World Cup just over a week ago, England were soon in deep trouble despite Root’s insistence they did not want to “sleepwalk” into this match.
A green-tinged pitch promised to offer Ireland’s seamers some assistance but few could have foreseen the flurry of England wickets that followed, with Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes all out for nought on a sunny day.
SCORES IN BRIEF
ENGLAND: First innings 85 all out (Denly 23, Curran 18, Stone 19; Murtagh 5-13, Adair 3-32, Rankin 2-5)
IRELAND: First innings 207 all out (Balbirnie 55, Stirling 36; Broad 3-60, Stone 3-29, Curran 3-28)
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