Adil Rashid took his first five-wicket haul in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) as England thrashed Ireland by seven wickets at Bristol on Friday (May 5).
It was a dispiriting day for the Irish team in their first ever match in England. Their batting effort, on a blameless surface, was particularly poor. There were a number of straight balls which batsmen simply missed and some poor shot selection thrown in too which added up to a rather limp performance all told.
Rashid finished with figures of 5 for 27, the second best ODI figures ever for an English spinner, and exhibited excellent control and variety throughout his eight over spell. At least three of his dismissals came from the googly which he used often and which the Irish batsmen failed to pick with any security or regularity.
It was a fine performance from Rashid, a bowler who has been in good form in his limited appearances for Yorkshire so far this season, and was further proof of his improvement as an international bowler which was evident, at times, during the winter tours to India and Bangladesh.
After William Porterfield had won the toss for Ireland and elected to bat, it was the spin of Rashid and Joe Root, rather than pace, which was Ireland’s downfall. They combined for seven of Ireland’s wickets, a surprise perhaps given that England had left out Moeen Ali in favour of the extra seamer Jake Ball.
There were no demons in the pitch and, despite what the scorecard may suggest, there was little spin on offer yet the Irish batsman had no answer to the subtle varieties of Rashid and the nagging consistency of Root. Five overs of Root’s off-spin cost just nine runs.
It had all started so well for Ireland. Ed Joyce and Paul Stirling raced to 35 without loss in the opening five overs, 28 of which came in boundaries, as England’s opening bowlers, David Willey and Mark Wood, bowled slightly too full in search of some swing from the white ball.
Once they had recalibrated their length, Wood, back from an ankle injury and in his first appearance for England since September last year, clean bowled Stirling in the sixth over before Willey pinned Joyce leg-before in the seventh to leave the score 46 for 2.
Andrew Balbirnie and William Porterfield sought to consolidate and put on 35 for the third wicket before Balbirnie, who had twice edged Liam Plunkett in between Root, in at wide third slip position, and keeper Sam Billings in the thirteenth over, was smartly caught by Billings off Ball.
From then on it was a procession. Ireland slumped from 81 for 2 to 126 all out as Rashid and Root ripped through the middle order. Rashid accounted for Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien, both LBW, and Stephen Thompson, bowled by a googly, within three overs and Root picked up Porterfield and George Dockrell cheaply.
It was decent – and in Rashid’s case very good – bowling from England but Ireland’s batsmen seemed totally devoid of a game-plan and, one the new ball lost its hardness, unsure as to how best to rotate the strike.
Although it was never a score that would realistically trouble England, Jason Roy was dismissed in the first over of their reply, caught smartly by Dockrell at mid-wicket off Peter Chase, and Tim Murtagh dropped a tough caught and bowled chance offered by Alex Hales in the second over. That would have left England 1 for 2 and who knows what might have been.
As it was, Hales and Root proceeded sweetly although not without further alarm for Hales as he edged through the slips off Murtagh and was poorly dropped down the leg-side by keeper Niall O’Brien off Chase three overs later. The Nottinghamshire opener was the aggressor, scoring nine boundaries in the first ten overs, and reached his 50 off just 33 balls before he was out, attempting to plant Chase in to the River Avon for 55.
Chase, who ended up with 3 for 44 from eight overs, ran in hard and dismissed Morgan with a sharp bouncer which the England captain could only top edge to third man. His was the only bright spot on an otherwise dark day for Ireland.
Root looked in good touch throughout. A boundary off Chase in the third over of England’s innings, sweetly timed through midwicket, suggested as much and he calmly ended up on 49 from just 52 balls without seemingly breaking a sweat.
England won with over four hours of the scheduled day’s play remaining and move on to the second match of the series, at Lord’s on Sunday, in good form and spirits. How much Morgan’s men will have learned from such a one-sided victory is a moot point but, at the very least, it will have been useful to get the team back playing together ahead of the Champions Trophy later this summer.
For Ireland, they know they will have to raise their game considerably for Sunday’s match and also need to fight off the growing suspicion that theirs is a team on the wane. A first ever game at the Home of Cricket beckons – there is not much more motivation required.
Brief Scores: Ireland 126 in 33 overs (Andy Balbirnie 30, Ed Joyce 23; Adil Rashid 5-27) lost to England 127/3 in 20 overs (Alex Hales 55, Joe Root 49*; Peter Chase 3-44) by seven wickets.
 as England thrashed Ireland by seven wickets at Bristol on Friday (May 5).){kind=link}