England crushed Ireland by 10 wickets

London (Uttam Hindu News): England started their home season on a strong note, thrashing Ireland by 10 wickets in the one-off Test on Saturday. After trailing by 352 runs in the first innings, Ireland set a modest target of just 11 runs in front of England, which England achieved in four balls.

Andy McBrine (86 not out), Mark Adair (88) and Harry Tector (51) scored fighting fifties to take Ireland to a respectable second innings score of 362 on the third day of the match. Apart from this, Lorcan Tucker also contributed 44 runs.

McBrine and Adair shared a 163-run partnership for the seventh wicket after the fall of six wickets for just 162 runs. Taking an aggressive approach, Adair scored 88 runs in 76 balls with the help of 12 fours and two sixes. He was heading towards his first international century but Matthew Potts returned him to the pavilion after getting him caught by Johnny Bairstow.

After the fall of Adair’s wicket, Fionn Hand (seven) and Graham Hume (14) also could not stay on the pitch for long. James McCollum did not come out to bat with an ankle injury and McBrine was dismissed for 86 not out. McBrine played 115 balls in his fighting innings, hitting 14 fours and taking Ireland to a score of 362/9.

Chasing the target, Zak Crawley gave England the victory by hitting three fours in four balls. Ollie Pope (205) was adjudged man of the match for scoring a double century in the first innings. England will now face Australia in a five-match Ashes Test series starting on June 16.