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England need 158 to win in Ireland!
It was an absolute blast. Ireland batted superbly first, but five wickets in 18 deliveries make England heavy favourites.
WICKET! Little c Buttler b Stokes 0 (Ireland 157 out)
Regulation stuff, a bit of backtracking to pop a catch behind.
20th over: Ireland 157-6 (Delany 12, Little 0) Stokes runs out and Delany forces his first delivery for a…
19th over: Ireland 156-9 (Delany 11, Little 0) How many can Ireland finish in the final?
WICKET! Hand b Curran 1 (Ireland 156-9)
Curran does it again! from wide, tips one in and Hand makes room…but misses. England have come back superbly in these last overs.
19th over: Ireland 156-8 (Delany 11, hand 1) Curran has such a bottle – his desire to bowl at the death and courage to do his skills are very, very special. Hand takes one to cover, then a wood misfield at 45 allows Delany a three.
WICKET! McCarthy b Curran 3 (Ireland 152-8)
Weather and temperament! Yes, but also skill and variation! Curran’s yorker has improved a lot in recent times, and when McCarthy goes down, it misses and the fielder strikes!
19th over: Ireland 152-7 (Delany 8, McCarthy 3) McCarthy dismisses Curran’s first ball for two in the over…
18th over: Ireland 150-7 (Delany 8, McCarthy 1) McCarthy forces his first ball to aim for one and that’s another fine one from Livingstone.
WICKET! Adair c Curran b Livingstone 4 (Ireland 14-7)
Pace and wrist spin are what you need in Australia, and Livingstone is now 3-16! Fires one, Adair makes a quick sweep and Curran, a little deeper than before, holds on as you know he will. What a cricketer he has become.
Updated at 07.08 BST
18th over: Ireland 149-6 (Delany 8, Adair 4) Three singles and two start this last Livingstone over…
17th over: Ireland 144-6 (Delany 6, Adair 1) It was a handy stroke from Campher, and when Adair hits his first delivery outside off it looks for a moment like another wicket… but the ball falls short before Woakes. to the third man. They run one, then Delany cuts a deep third for four – he’s timed it really well – before taking one to the helmet, playing on the bounce of what’s there, effectively heading a bouncer. He’s fine, though, and has seen Wood out, who ends up with 3-43.
WICKET! Campher c Buttler b Wood 17 (Ireland 138-6)
Wood shoots a bouncer to the side of the leg and Campher looks to get some, and looks like he has enough to score, but nope! Buttler sinks a slight tickle, and England are getting into it again.
17th over: Ireland 138-5 (Campher 17, Delany 2) Wood returns to finish, Buttler hoping to get rid of the new batsman. But Delany splashes to fine leg for one, then Campher dances all the way out and catches the world’s fastest bowler at fine leg for four! How about the stones?
Updated at 07:00 BST
16th over: Ireland 133-5 (Campher 13, Delany 1) Delany survives the hat-trick ball, another attempted yorker, then pushes one to long-on, and that’s a huge potential save for England, six runs and two covers from him
WICKET! Dockrell b Livingstone 0 (Ireland 132-5)
Two by two! Livingstone gives it some extra gas, Dockrell is caught by his break, that can happen when a bowler is able to turn it both ways, and it’s york or the same, depending on your perspective. Livingstone is in a hat, and what a match it is!
Updated at 06.56 BST
WICKET! Balbirnie c Hales b Livingstone 62 (Ireland 132-4)
Balbirnie goes again but can’t get enough of his sweep and it sinks to Hales who comes in from deep square. Brilliant captaincy though.
Updated at 06.56 BST
16th over: Ireland 132-3 (Balbirnie 62, Campher 13) Livingstone is back, and his first ball is bowled to fine leg for four! A single follows, striking Balbirnie…
15th over: Ireland 127-3 (Balbirnie 62, Campher 8) Curran, who has been so effective during this period, returns, and after a bye and a two, Balbirnie absolutely hits him over square leg for six, like a guy in the The crowd dives into the seat and the concrete, absolutely close to the catch. If you bowled that sound in 12 inches, you’ll have a number ua on your hands, and when the skipper sticks us two more into deep square, it makes 11, another belt for Ireland!
“With a four-month-old baby,” says Michael Keane, “I’ve been ‘lucky’ enough to catch every first game of this tournament at 5am local time. I’ve just confirmed with a nod (the cricket sage that he is now) that this was Ireland’s highest powerplay to date, which is just what we need. We’ve suffered at PP all year and it’s cost us. We’re also baffled by the constant raised eyebrows amongst the commentators from our fellow test nations over the skill of Lorcan Tucker. I can also say it’s good to finally have an OBO in an Ireland game. It feels like we’re really at the top of the table now.” .
First of all, mazal tov! And I feel you: my daughter was born during Mitch’s ashes, for which I have yet to forgive him. Otherwise, it’s great to see Ireland not just here, but bring it to England – the more countries that can do that, the merrier – and this has the makings of a classic. as the good book says in Deuteronomy: “And you shall teach your children…”
Updated at 06.52 BST
14th over: Ireland 116-3 (Balbirnie 52, Campher 8) Rashid to face: This is his last match so Ireland are milking it for singles, which makes sense. Moeen is not the same wicket-taking threat, and what Ireland have to guard against now is throwing wickets in pursuit of a monster, when they can only bat sensibly and set up something competitive. So five ones and one two it is, Balbirnie raising a fine of fifty on the fourth delivery. Rashid is over, with 0-24 off his four, and Ireland will be hoping to get to around 160, I imagine.
13th over: Ireland 109-3 (Balbirnie 48, Campher 5) It’s a big partnership now, and Balbirnie have to decide whether to try to score the runs or bat. But meanwhile it’s Campher on strike, and after a deflection he uses Wood’s pace to hit four behind before suffering the bowler’s revenge, a short ball slanting in from wide that pins him to the crease with nowhere to go turning the other cheek, he takes it to the helmet, but after a quick inspection it is good to go back and he escapes at the other end via running over the third. You can’t take your eyes off it (unless there’s an exocet barreling towards you at 150+ km/h).
WICKET! Tector c Buttler b Wood 0 (Ireland 103-3)
Yes, this does seem like a turning point. A raw wood delivery is too quick for Tector – at 153km/h I’m not surprised – and a back edge is enough to open the door. Good captaincy from Buttler, who returns his, er, point of difference to attack the new batsman, and Ireland need to stay steady now.
13th over: Ireland 103-2 (Balbirnie 44, Tector 0) Yes, Rashid was trying to stop it, not score a run. Wood is back…
Updated at 06.40 BST
WICKET! Tucker run out (Rashid) 34 (Ireland 103-2)
oh man Ohhhhh maaaaaaaaan! Tucker drives, Rashid dives and finger tips the ball towards the off stump, with Tucker on his way! Now I don’t know if I meant it, but I know that England needed it badly. Big blow, but could it be a turning point?
Updated at 06.38 BST
12th over: Ireland 103-1 (Balbirnie 48, Tucker 34) Balbirnie pushes two to long on, then four singles…
11th over: Ireland 97-1 (Balbirnie 44, Tucker 32) England try Liam Livingstone, which makes sense – Ireland have joined the quicks. His first receive for five singles, a blessed relief for Egland and a decent consolidation for Ireland. I wonder if we’ll see Moeen at the other end, because Woakes has been a monster; it’s almost as if the average pace is found in Australia – if this had happened almost every four years for the last 200 years, England would have no excuse not to know about it.
10th over: Ireland 92-1 (Balbirnie 41, Tucker 30) Buttler is going through his bowlers trying to make something happen and his last trick is to go back to Woakes, who starts with wide leg and then delivers a freebie at the same time . area Maybe he was trying to follow Balbirnie, but a little extra bounce makes it relatively easy for him to take the corner for four, and that’s a great thing about the two guys in the middle. A couple if singles follow, then Balbirnie leaps and cartwheels over Curran’s head for four to midwife! AND OHHHH MY DAYS! Another leg side down, more bounce… and Balbirnie gets under to help it round the corner for six! A single follows, making it 18 from the last over, and at the cups, Ireland are in command! Meanwhile, England could use a stiff several!
9th over: Ireland 74-1 (Balbirnie 25, Tucker 29) Rashid is a weapon for England in these middle overs, a wicket-taker who can avoid scoring. But Ireland have been so composed around here, and after a single to Balbirnie, Tucker forces another to take a share which adds to the partnership of 50. Balbirnie then drives nicely to deep extra and two runs, before one over long on makes it five over the top. That’s slightly better from England but they really need a breakthrough because Ireland are batting deep.
8th over: Ireland 69-1 (Balbirnie 21, Tucker 28) Stokes is back and England could really use his golden arm here – I’m sure that’s why they brought him in. They have to settle for four singles which, given how the last overs have gone, they would have taken.
“Sounds like a wasted power play for England,” he emails Sujit, “getting too carried away with the bounce and not throwing it often enough. Ireland would be very happy with the start they’ve had.”
Yes, although I…