London: The one-off Test match between England and Ireland, on Wednesday, had an unexpected start as the first inning of both the sides came to an end on the very first day of the match being played here at the Lord's.
England, after opting to bat first, managed to put up a score of just 85 runs in their first inning while the Lord's debutants racked up 207 runs before the English side bowled them out.
England opener Jason Roy (5) was sent back to the pavilion by Tim Murtagh early in the inning after he was caught by Paul Sterling. The other opener Rory Joseph Burns and Joe Denly then formed a 28-run partnership which was interestingly the highest partnership formed by the hosts in the inning. Moreover, Denly scored 23 runs and was the highest run-getter from the English side in the first inning.
Denly was given LBW off Mark Adair's ball and soon after Burns (6) too gave away his wicket as he was caught behind on Murtagh's delivery.
The skipper Joe Root took the field but failed to leave a mark on the field as he was sent back to the pavilion in the 12th over after scoring two runs. Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes all were sent back to the pavilion on a duck by Murtagh.
Sam Curran and Olly Stone scored 18 and 19 runs respectively but failed to take their side over the 100-run mark as they the Cricket World Cup winners got all-out on just 85 runs. Murtagh took five wickets in the inning and conceded just 13 runs from his nine overs.
After a good day with the ball, Ireland displayed good performance with the bat as well. Openers William Porterfield and James McCollum formed a 32-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Porterfield scored 14 runs before Sam Curran got hold of him in the 13th over. Soon after, McCollum was bowled by Curran after scoring 19 runs. Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling then took the field and provided their side with some momentum as they accumulated 87 runs.
Sterling got out after scoring 36 runs but Balbirnie went on to score his half-century. But soon after scoring a half-century, Balbirnie (55) was bowled by Olly Stone.
Although Kevin O'Brien kept on scoring runs from one end, he did not get any support from the other end as they kept losing their wickets. Gary Wilson and Stuart Thompson were sent back to the pavilion on a duck while Mark Adair scored three runs. Kevin O'Brien scored unbeaten 28 runs and gave Ireland an upper hand over the hosts.
Ireland scored 207 runs before getting all-out and have a lead of 122 runs over England. Stuart Broad, Olly Stone and Sam Curran all took three wickets each in the inning.
England took the field for the second inning but only one over was bowled and no run was scored in the over. The match will resume from England's second inning on Thursday.
