Just within the 10 days of CWC 2019, the tournament champions England are playing their first one-off Test match against Ireland at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. One might have thought that the game would be a cakewalk for hosts who are playing against the debutant Ireland. But alas! The game turned out to be a nightmare for the hosts as they got bundled out for the score of 85 runs. All thanks to pacer Tim Murtagh who ripped the batting line-up of the hosts. Bowling at a stunning economy of 1.44, Murtagh snapped five wickets during the first innings. Boyd Rankin Becomes Only Second Player to Play Test Cricket For and Against England After Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi.

Joe Denly was the highest scorer in the first innings as he made 23 runs from 28 balls. Rory Burns and Jason Roy were aiming to give quite a steady start to the team but both failed to do so. Murtagh got the wicket of Roy and then Burns on the score of five and six respectively. Denly stayed for a while but could not get enough support from the other and he too made way to the pavilion on the score of 23. Joe Root departed on 2. With the ducks of Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Waoakes, the team was into deep trouble.

Sam Curran and Olly stone tried building a partnership but they too could not stay for a long time and they too were sent to the pavilion on 18 and 19 respectively. Mark Adair snapped three wickets, Boyd Rankin got a couple of them. With this, it would be interesting to how England bowlers defend the score.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 24, 2019 06:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).