Harry Tector passed fifty for Ireland to hold up England’s victory charge in the one-off Test at Lord’s during an entertaining morning session on day three.
Ireland played expansively despite the daunting task in front of them with 118 runs added and only three wickets lost, although Tector (51), Lorcan Tucker (44) and Curtis Campher (19) were unable to kick on after starts.
When Ireland’s number eight and nine joined forces half an hour before lunch, the end looked nigh but Mark Adair smashed an unbeaten 32 and Andy McBrine helped himself to 19 not out to ensure their side walked off on 215 for six, still 137 runs from making England bat again.
Huge scores in quick time from Ben Duckett (182) and Ollie Pope (205) in England’s 524 for four declared raised the possibility a result may occur inside two days, but Tector stood firm to ensure Ireland made it to the close on Friday evening on 97 for three.
The tourists were effectively four down though after opener James McCollum retired hurt with a twisted ankle and while scans showed no fracture, he was deemed “unlikely” to feature again at Lord’s.
It increased the onus on Tector and wicketkeeper Tucker, who after a observant first three overs started to play his shots.
A skip down the wicket saw him crunch Matthew Potts away to the boundary for four and two more followed when the Durham seamer next had the ball in hand to bring up the fifty partnership with Tector.
It was Ireland’s first half-century stand of the Test and Stuart Broad was the next to take punishment from Tucker with another sumptuous drive down the ground, but a breakthrough followed for England.
Captain Ben Stokes, after watching Potts go agonising close to a superb caught and bowled against Tucker from the previous over, introduced Jack Leach and the spinner struck with his second ball.
Tucker missed his sweep shot and could only glove Leach’s delivery onto his own stumps to walk off for a well-made 44 off 64 balls.
Leach’s wicket maiden continued his growing confidence before the Ashes after three wickets in the first innings with some attacking fields.
Ireland’s number four Tector was still there and after it took him 12 balls to add to his overnight 33, he got his first boundary of the morning by hitting Leach down the ground.
Tector was happy to remain watchful with Campher willing to take the attack to England after he got off the mark with a sweep for four and followed it up with a slog-sweep off Joe Root that was caught by a spectator in the Grandstand.
Two more boundaries from Campher off Josh Tongue’s first over saw Ireland move beyond 150 and reduce the deficit to under 200.
Further applause followed when Tector reached fifty when he scampered through for two, but the very next ball he cut straight to Harry Brook at backward point to give Tongue a fortuitous fourth scalp of the innings and depart for a well-made 51 off 98 balls.
Campher followed him back to the pavilion in the next over when he swept Root to Stokes at short fine leg, but more significantly was the grimace on the face of England’s captain.
Stokes took the catch at chest height but hobbled rather than walked to celebrate with his team-mates, with all eyes on his troublesome left knee ahead of five Ashes Tests during the next two months.
Adair’s arrival at the crease did not spark further wickets but sixes instead with the seamer taking a shine to Root, who went for 45 runs in his six overs with the tailender putting on a unbroken fifty partnership with McBrine to make sure Ireland took the four-day match into an eighth session.
Matthews' unbeaten 99 in vain as Australia trounce Windies Women by eight wickets in T20 opener
In a riveting display of talent and skill, Hayley Matthews scored a blazing 99 not out from just 74 deliveries in the first T20 International against Australia at the North Sydney Oval. However, her lone effort couldn't save the day for the West Indies Women, who were soundly defeated by eight wickets.
Matthews took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners, hitting boundaries at will, and missing her well-deserved century by a whisker. Her innings was adorned with 12 fours and 4 sixes, making it one of the most memorable performances of her career.
The West Indies, riding on Matthews' brilliance, posted a defendable total of 147-3 in their 20 overs. However, the opposition seemed unfazed by the challenge and chased down the target in 13.2 overs, losing only two wickets in the process, to finish the game on 149-2.
Skipper Alyssa Healy scored 56 off 29 while Tahlia McGrath finished on 60 not out from 32 deliveries to guide the home team to the opening win.
Although the day belonged to the home team, Matthews won countless hearts with her valiant effort. Head Coach Shane Deitz remarked, "Magnificent innings, she really deserved the hundred. It's one of the best innings I've seen for a long time. She's been brilliant around the group as a leader, batter, and bowler."
Deitz also touched upon the team's overall performance, sharing his perspective on the outcome. He added, "I think we were a bit short as the wicket started playing better in the second half. It was a pretty good total, and maybe if we had taken our chances while fielding, things could have been different."
No surprise that Matthews was the Player of the Match for her 99 not out and bowling figures of 2-0-17-1.
The West Indies Women will now regroup for the second T20I Sunday night, hoping to bounce back stronger.
Middlesex relegated from Division One as Kent survive on dramatic final day
Kent maintained their Division One status in the LV= Insurance County Championship after a dramatic final day of the season which saw Middlesex relegated instead.
Kent had to settle for a draw from their game with Lancashire at Canterbury and then faced an agonising 80-minute wait for news from Trent Bridge, where a Middlesex win over Nottinghamshire would have consigned Jack Leaning’s side to Division Two.
There had looked to be only one outcome as Nottinghamshire, having been set a target of 207 in a generous 58 overs by Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones, progressed to 64 without loss and then 106 for one.
But on a dry, turning pitch on a sunny afternoon, spinners Jayant Yadav, Josh De Caires and Sam Robson – who finished with a career-best four for 46 with his leg spin – reduced the home side to 157 for seven and suddenly a great escape looked on.
However, Matt Montgomery (34 not out) held the tail together to drag Nottinghamshire across the line at eight down, with 16 balls to spare, and left Kent celebrating survival despite being frustrated by dogged Lancashire resistance.
Third-placed Hampshire became just the second team to beat Surrey across their back-to-back title-winning campaigns.
Only Lancashire had beaten Surrey in 2022 and 2023 in red-ball cricket, winning once in either campaign.
But Liam Dawson took his season tally to 49 wickets by claiming two of the four scalps needed to secure victory at the Ageas Bowl, with Surrey only scoring 20 of the 73 required to lose by 52 runs before 11am.
Despite the defeat, Surrey were presented with the Division One trophy by England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson.
Warwickshire and Somerset’s rain-hit clash ended in an expected draw.
The Division One contest was officially abandoned just after lunch on the final day when, with the sun shining, the umpires ruled that areas of the field remained unsafe.
Somerset had been 90 for two in the second innings, a lead of 32. The result saw Warwickshire end the campaign in fourth with Somerset seventh.
In Division Two, Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 helped Yorkshire chase down a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom for only the second time in their history.
Yorkshire’s fourth-highest successful run chase was achieved with relative comfort in the end, with six wickets in hand and three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.
With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two.
As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.
Sussex took just 45 minutes to complete a 339-run victory that condemned Gloucestershire to a winless season and bottom spot.
The hosts took only 9.5 overs to achieve a third victory of the campaign after Gloucestershire resumed on 113 for five, needing another 400 runs.
Durham sealed an emphatic victory over Leicestershire by an innings and 141 runs to end their title-winning campaign on a high.
The home side required 10 wickets to secure their seventh victory of the campaign at Seat Unique Riverside and took only 42.5 overs to tear through the Leicestershire batting line-up.
The Durham bowlers shared the wickets around as Vishwa Fernando and Matt Parkinson claimed three apiece, while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine and Jonathan Bushnell also struck.
The hosts took 24 points from the contest, ending the term with a mammoth total of 233.
Leus Du Plooy’s last game for Derbyshire ended in a draw despite another Luis Reece century as their side came up four wickets short after setting Glamorgan a target of 384 to win on the final day in 70 overs.
Derbyshire had eight fielders around the bat in the chase for wickets but eventually called time one over short at 5.37pm as the game petered out into a draw with Glamorgan on 135 for six. Derbyshire finished sixth in the table and Glamorgan fifth.
Pooran joins Durban Super Giants for SA T20
West Indies T20 sensation, Nicholas Pooran, was unveiled as the Durban's Super Giants wildcard pick ahead of the SA20 auction that took place in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
This will be Pooran's first time playing the tournament and he will represent the same owners he plays for in the Indian Premier League.
The 27-year old delivered a recent reminder of his capabilities with a 51-ball hundred at the Caribbean Premier League where his team, Trinbago Knight Riders, was part of the final.
He was the highest scorer in the inaugural Major League Cricket tournament in the USA earlier this year, a performance that helped the team he was captaining, MI New York, win the title.
In all, Pooran has 5861 T20 runs at a strike rate of 144 across a career that spans 292 matches and 10 years.
Fellow West Indians Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd were also snapped up at the auction. Pollard will play the first three matches for MI Cape Town as cover for Rashid Khan while Shepherd, who was instrumental in helping the Guyana Amazon Warriors claim their maiden CPL title, will suit up for the Joburg Super Kings.
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