ENGLAND eased to a 2-0 series win at Malahide yesterday, chasing down Ireland’s target of 155 with 17 balls and six wickets to spare.
It was an efficient win for the visitors, whose spinners tied up Ireland before their aggressive top order knocked off the runs on a difficult pitch.
Ireland made two changes from the defeat on Wednesday, opting to drop George Dockrell from the middle order to accommodate the debutant Ben Calitz, and bringing in spinner Ben White for seamer Graham Hume, who took a pasting in the first game.
Two Bens in one Ireland team was a first, if not quite of the magnitude of the 12 on display in Connemara.
Ireland captain Paul Stirling was upbeat at the finish, perhaps recognising his understrength and underprepared team were on a hiding to nothing.
‘We took a lot of positives from the week,’ Stirling said. ‘When you play against England I don't think you know what is a winning score. We were probably 15 short no matter who we were playing. I’m proud of the lads and the way they played today.’
Ireland now cast their minds forward to a two-test, three-T20s tour of Bangladesh next month, and the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka early in the new year.
Stirling and Adair took up where they left off on Wednesday, being especially harsh on T20 debutant Sonny Baker.
The Devonian came into the England side for the recent ODIs against South Africa on a wave of hype after The Hundred. That didn’t work out too well for him, with several wides in dismal figures of 7-0-76-0 – and a first ball duck – in his only international outing to date.
His first over yesterday was understandably nervous, but his second was devoured by Ross Adair for 16.
England switched to spin and Stirling played back and edged Dawson’s third ball to Buttler, with the DRS detecting a tiny deflection after the umpire had ruled not out.
Adair continued to mix fine striking with good fortune, evading the fielders several times while hitting 33 off 23 balls before he mistimed a slog sweep off Rehan Ahmed and found Jordan Cox at wide mid-on.
That brought Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker together, but if the 4,500 strong crowd hoped to see them repeat their 123-partnership heroics of Wednesday they were disappointed. Tucker lasted two overs, and Curtis Campher two balls, both caught in the outfield to make it 58-4, before the new cap joined Tector.
Canadian born and South African raised, Calitz did not seem overawed by the company, and found the rope with a hard-hitting drive early on. The 22-year-old was wearing the No.72 shirt worn for many years by Niall O’Brien, and it will take a lot of filling.
He and Tector set about repairing the innings before, with the score on 90, Tector (28) tried a reverse hit off Dawson and top-edged it to Adil Rashid.
Calitz brought up the 100 in the 15th over with a big six off the same bowler into the 15th row of the packed stands but tried to repeat the feat two balls later and hit a top edge to Bethel at cover for a breezy 22 off 18 balls. Barry McCarthy was out lbw next ball, burning an appeal.
The slow pitch – and slower outfield – made it tricky to score quickly but Gareth Delany had a go, smashing Wood for a huge six over long on followed by a cut for four.
Baker returned for the 17th over and coughed up 18 runs, before Humphreys was caught at backward square leg off Rashid’s last ball for 7.
Delany farmed the strike for the last two overs, turning down several singles, but ended up on 48 not out off 29 balls, his highest score in Ireland colours for 47 matches. Baker was given the last over, his 4-0-52-0 proving an even more painful return than his ODI debut.
A couple of showers forced the interval to be extended to over an hour, and Ireland set about defending their mere 154 with gusto.
Jos Buttler threw his hands at Barry McCarthy’s second delivery, but his powerful drive somehow ended in the hands of Curtis Campher at cover. The Munster Reds all-rounder is a man who makes things happen and old men were heard to say how they had never seen a better catch than Campher’s full-length dive to cling onto a tracer bullet one-handed, an inch above the turf.
That brought in Jacob Bethel, who took a liking to McCarthy when he bowled short, flaying him for consecutive fours. But off the first ball of Craig Young’s spell he mistimed a pull and Delany held another excellent catch diving forward at midwicket to make it 33-2.
Briefly, Ireland were ahead on Duckworth-Lewis but Phil Salt and Cox soon changed that. Salt had largely played second fiddle after hitting a six in the first over, and had made 29 off 23 when out in the 10th over, driving at Campher, who claimed his first T20 wicket since last summer’s World Cup.
Humphreys had a great shout for lbw against Cox, which umpire Aidan Seaver agreed with, but DRS showed the English batter had edged onto his pad. The left-arm spinner’s four overs cost 25, conceding just one six and one four, both off Salt.
Cox made 55 when he was bowled by White playing down the wrong line with Banton (37no) seeing England home.
