![\"Ireland’s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/BVUIQ3U4VSHGTGSR6OPOLACAKI.jpg\")
Ireland\u2019s Ross Adair plays a shot square of the wicket during the first T20 international against England in Malahide. Photograph: Nick Elliott\/Inpho <\/p>\n1st T20 international: Ireland 196-3 (20 ovs) (H Tector 61no, L Tucker 55; A Rashid 1-36) lost to England 197-6 (17.4 ovs) (P Salt 89; G Hume 2-36, M Humphreys 2-44) by four wickets <\/p>\n
Ireland have lost their unbeaten record against England in T20 internationals. Those cautioning that Wednesday\u2019s series-opener in Malahide was only the third meeting between the teams in this format would be correct, but not very enjoyable company. <\/p>\n
As anticipated given their destruction of South Africa in recent weeks, England\u2019s batters were far too good for an injury-depleted Irish bowling attack. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler rained fury upon green-clad bowlers from the off, England making what should have been a competitive chase of 197 look all too easy. <\/p>\n
That Ireland, batting first after losing the toss, reached such a score ensured this hammering didn\u2019t turn into an embarrassment. Harry Tector (61 not out) showed why selectors were keen to move him up the order to number three. His partnership with Lorcan Tucker (55) broke a number of records but Ireland\u2019s total always looked light, a sedate start in the powerplay coming back to haunt them. <\/p>\n
Ireland were solid, England devastating. Not an overly surprising script. <\/p>\n
For all the talk of Ireland\u2019s barren fixture list coming into this fixture, their batting display was better than expected. Paul Stirling drove his second ball to the fence with a customary stroke through the covers. He then welcomed Liam Dawson into the game with a straight heave over the ropes. <\/p>\n
Ross Adair wasn\u2019t as fluid as he was beaten for pace by Jamie Overton, not least when edging a short ball into the grill of his helmet. When he got it right, though, Adair showed why he is so valued by the Irish set-up, taking on Overton with a series of strong shots down the ground. <\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s Ross Adair plays a shot square of the wicket during the first T20 international against England in Malahide. Photograph: Nick Elliott\/Inpho <\/p>\n
It was a controlled, if slightly sluggish start, from the Irish opening pair, putting on 57 for the first wicket. Stirling and Adair then departed in consecutive overs, both caught in the deep off English spinners. <\/p>\n
On paper, given the record of this Irish middle order in T20 cricket when faced with slower bowling, that could have been England\u2019s opening to assert their dominance. Tector and Tucker assured that it wasn\u2019t. <\/p>\n
Tector drove Rehan Ahmed\u2019s first leg-spin offering beautifully through the covers. He swept the experienced Adil Rashid over midwicket twice. Tucker took a liking to left-arm quick Luke Wood, pulling dismissively and driving elegantly. <\/p>\n
The partnership was perfectly paced by this Irish pair. The 15th over \u2013 Tucker\u2019s take down of Wood \u2013 signalled the start of the acceleration. The final five went for 63, Tucker ending as the aggressor when punishing a series of missed yorkers from Sam Curran. <\/p>\n
Tector\u2019s 50, his first since moving up to number three, came off 31 balls. Tucker\u2019s came from 35. Capitalising on a sluggish display from an experienced England attack, their stand of 123 was a third-wicket record for Ireland. It was the country\u2019s fourth highest T20 partnership ever.<\/p>\n
It was a case of Ireland moving steadily through the gears, rather than launching a game-winning onslaught. Given England\u2019s superior firepower, 196 looked competitive without being a winning score. <\/p>\n
![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WM6OIPNLNSJH3CJ5SR2AFQBBRU.jpg\")
England opener Phil Salt drives a ball during the first T20 international against Ireland at Malahide. Photograph: Nick Elliott\/Inpho <\/p>\n
Enter Salt and Buttler to burst Ireland\u2019s balloon. Against South Africa last week, they hit a record powerplay score, reaching 100 without loss. By comparison, Ireland may well take comfort from the first six costing just 84 runs. The game was nonetheless quickly up. <\/p>\n
Salt found the boundary twice in the first over, Matthew Humphreys\u2019s opening offering costing 11 runs. Barry McCarthy upped the bet by conceding 17 in the second. The third, bowled by Graham Hume, was a bloodbath. His military medium was made to look like club bowling by Buttler, five of the six deliveries launched with disdain to the fence. It was a tough watch. <\/p>\n
Buttler\u2019s departure, skying the returning Humphreys, only slightly slowed England\u2019s canter. Salt had his share of luck, being called back after holing out off Tector for a waist-high no ball, while a pull into the deep just evaded a diving Curtis Campher. <\/p>\n
England\u2019s young captain Jacob Bethell departed after taking down Tector\u2019s off-spinners. Hume returned to pick up a handful of consolation scalps, while England\u2019s insistence on finishing the game quickly ensured a steady stream of departures which added a false sheen to the scorecard. <\/p>\n
Ireland simply did not have the tools to stop England from scoring on a good pitch with short straight boundaries. Barring a change in conditions, there is little to suggest that changes on Friday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1st T20 international: Ireland 196-3 (20 ovs) (H Tector 61no, L Tucker 55; A Rashid 1-36) lost to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8755,8756,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-27288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}