Three moments that changed England v Ireland
England ensured a simple series win over Ireland by completing their second victory over the visitors at Lord's on Sunday.
Here are the deliveries that changed the game:
26.5 Dockrell to Root
England enjoyed a steady first half of the innings, laying the foundations for a flourish towards the end. Openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales both made starts before giving their wickets away, with Surrey’s Roy unable to time much in his stay at the crease. Their departure brought England’s two captains, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, to the crease where they built a strong partnership without hitting the ball to all parts of the ground.
As England got to a steady 127/2, going at a rate of just under five runs an over, Root face a pitched up delivery from left-arm spinner George Dockrell; the Yorkshireman got down onto one knee and performed a reverse scoop over the wicketkeeper, who could only watch as the ball trickled down to the boundary rope in front of the pavilion.
The improvisation was the sign of a man in form and further indication to the Ireland fielders the challenge they were up against on Sunday, as well as offering some swagger from Root himself. It also gave England some much-needed momentum after essentially plodding through the first 25 overs of the innings without putting too much pressure on the visitors. He would eventually go on to make 73 from the same number of balls before hitting a Peter Chase delivery straight to mid-off, leaving England on 200 for 3 with just under 15 overs to go.
It was this foundation that prermitted his fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow to smash a quickfire 72 from just 44 balls to ensure England accrued a respectable 328-6.
13.1 Ball to Stirling
Facing the large total set by England it was imperative for Ireland to get off to a good start, which they duly did with Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce at the crease. The England opening bowlers were sloppy, as David Willey was permitted just three overs, including giving away five wides, before he was replaced by Jake Ball. However, at the other end, Stirling was the man capitalising on the sub-par offering from the hosts, as the Middlesex batsman enjoyed playing on his home ground.
Wood threw down a short pitched delivery for the penultimate ball of his fourth over, but this was not an issue for Stirling, who picked the length superbly to pull a relatively flat six over midwicket, sending Ireland to rack up 50 before the end of the seventh over of their innings, leaving England to ask a few questions of themselves, as they seemed to expect the men in green to roll over.
The importance of Stirling was incredibly evident when he was caught behind by Sam Billings off the bowling of Ball for 48 from 42 balls, as the Irish innings never recovered from his loss as no one else could offer similar impetus. It was the faintest of edges from the opener, so slight the umpire missed it, forcing England to review and rightly having it overturned.
23.2 Root to Niall O’Brien
In his previous over, Niall O’Brien had sent the ball straight over Root’s head and into the pavilion for a six, but when he tried to repeat the trick the next time he faced the part-time off-spinner his luck would run out, as he could only find Willey lurking at the long on boundary, where he graciously snaffled the tamer effort of the Irish batsman. Ireland were slowing down, trying to keep the scoreboard ticking over to maintain some hope they would be able to keep in touch with the tough target but the loss of O’Brien put a pay to the resistance. Even with the experience of William Porterfield and Gary Wilson at the crease, it was an uphill task for the visitors and they couldn’t build any momentum throughout the remaining overs.
Needing nine an over with 20 left, Ireland tried to up it, but Wilson was caught out on the cover boundary by Alex Hales after skying a Root delivery and things only went further downhill from there.
There were some positive moments for Ireland, as Porterfield and Kevin O'Brien struck some lusty blows to keep things interesting for the spectators, with the crowd significantly subdued due to the straightforward nature of the result. Porterfield was impressive with the bat, wiling to go down fighting as he smashed the ball around Lord's to entertain the audience. One he departed for 82, cleanly bowled when trying to flick the pacy Wood, it was all over, as Ireland eventually finished 243 all out, 86 runs short of their target.