England’s next generation offered a promising glimpse of their white-ball future as Will Jacks, Sam Hain and Rehan Ahmed all starred in a 48-run win over a full-strength Ireland.
Jacks’ 94 off 88 balls contained seven fours and four sixes, contrasting with a more understated 89 off 82 deliveries from Hain, but the duo underpinned England’s 334 for eight in the second Metro Bank ODI.
Teenage leg-spinner Ahmed collected four for 54 as Ireland were all out for 286 in 46.4 overs at Trent Bridge against England’s understudies, for whom Phil Salt was the most experienced in his 15th ODI.
Ahead of this de facto series opener after a washout at Headingley earlier this week, England’s XI contained a combined 38 ODI appearances – compared with Ireland’s 720 – as the hosts made use of their deep pool of reserves, with their World Cup stars resting ahead of travelling to India next week.
Hain took top billing among the four England debutants but George Scrimshaw had fluctuating fortunes, bowling six front foot no-balls in his first two overs before rebounding with figures of 8.4-0-66-3.
Jamie Smith and Tom Hartley had more modest outings but this was still an impressive display amid an expected changing of the guard after the World Cup, while Jacks’ dazzling innings may have given the selectors a nudge about being on standby should injury befall the main group in the subcontinent.
Tipped as the successors to Jason Roy and Alex Hales, Jacks and Salt paid a fitting tribute to the pair who revolutionised opening the batting for England in the shorter formats, feasting on Ireland’s fruitless pursuit of early swing with a rash of fours to bring up the 50 stand in the sixth over.
Jacks sumptuously drove the expensive Josh Little for three successive fours but Craig Young found a better length, drawing the splice of Salt’s bat on 28 before stand-in captain Zak Crawley was lbw for a two-ball duck in his first England innings since leading their run-charts in this summer’s Ashes.
England ended the powerplay with Jacks dismissively swiping Barry McCarthy for six as he and Ben Duckett steadily rebuilt from Young’s double strike.
Put down on 44, Jacks went to fifty in style by clearing extra cover off Andy McBrine, who also went the distance off Duckett.
Fellow spinner Dockrell had more luck as Duckett paddled to short fine-leg on 48 to end a run-a-ball 102-run stand with Jacks, who slog swept the slow left-armer for his fourth six to move into the 90s.
Attempting a repeat to reach three figures in Dockrell’s next over, Jacks top-edged to Andy Balbirnie, who took a steepler a few feet in from the deep midwicket boundary.
England added just 140 in the final 20 overs but 15 of those came with Hain as the only frontline batter left after Smith holed out.
Hain, whose List A average of 57.96 is the second highest ever, had a single from his first 11 balls and was put down by a diving Harry Tector from his 12th but he gradually started to find rhythm.
Hain used his feet well to offset the bowlers’ lengths in an unobtrusive 52-ball fifty and while there were few big hits – he managed just eight fours in total – he was responsible for England going past 300. Needing 11 off the last over for his century, he miscued McCarthy to mid-off.
While England had their highest score in ODIs against Ireland, the tourists were aided by Scrimshaw’s repeated front-foot faults.
There were four no-balls in his first over in an England shirt and two, plus a wide, in his next as he leaked an eye-watering 35 having sent down just 11 legal deliveries.
When he drew Balbirnie’s outside edge with his 12th, Scrimshaw forlornly turned round to Rod Tucker after Ben Duckett snaffled the chance but the umpire gave a thumb’s up and patted him on his shoulder.
From the next ball, Paul Stirling, whose 250 List A appearances before Saturday was just 29 fewer than England’s XI combined, chopped on for 25 off 17 balls after Matthew Potts found lavish inward movement.
Ireland were up with the rate but wickets fell at regular intervals, with Ahmed into the act when the dangerous Tector was out for 39 after skewing to a backtracking Jacks.
Googlies from Ahmed snared McBrine and Mark Adair, while the youngest member of England’s XI had his fourth from his penultimate delivery as Dockrell clothed another wrong’un to Salt.
From 188 for eight, England were unable to finish proceedings quickly as Ireland’s last three batters McCarthy (41), Young (40 not out) and Little (29) all recorded ODI bests. But Scrimshaw took the final wicket as Little slammed to long-on to banish thoughts of a remarkable Ireland comeback.
Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start
Andy Farrell believes Sam Prendergast is ready to step up ahead of his first Ireland start against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Farrell has made seven changes to his team, handing first caps to Leinster's Gus McCarthy and Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu for the penultimate game of the Autumn Nations Series.
The Ireland head coach has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.
Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster, but Farrell had no hesitation in handing him a first start after he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.
"I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.
"The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own, as though he was in charge, and he did that in spades.
"This week we've seen the benefit of that, but we need to see it transfer, obviously.
"Yes, his character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants, and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”
Farrell also had a glowing review for Izuchukwu, saying: "Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference.
"That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.
"His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."
On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."
He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."
Ciaran Frawley also returns to the bench after missing out last weekend on the back of a poor outing against New Zealand.
And Cian Healy must wait another week for a record-breaking 134th cap - having drawn level with Brian O'Driscoll against Argentina - after the prop was left out of the 23.
Ireland team to play Fiji
Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cormac Izuchukwu, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Thomas Clarkson, Iain Henderson, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
Barbados Pride soar into CG United Super50 final after commanding 153-run win over T&T Red Force
Barbados Pride delivered a clinical performance to storm into the CG United Super50 Cup final, as they hammered defending champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by a massive 153 runs in their semi-final clash at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Wednesday.
This victory propelled the Pride—who last tasted glory in the 2016-17 season and reached their last final in 2017-18—into contention for their seventh title.
Scores: Barbados Pride 339-7 (50 overs); Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 186 all out (36.3 overs)
After being sent in to bat, the Pride’s openers, Zachary McCaskie and Leniko Boucher, laid the foundation with a scintillating 142-run partnership. McCaskie, the more aggressive of the pair, entertained with a blistering 94 off just 82 deliveries, smashing six boundaries and six towering sixes.
However, his departure, courtesy of Mark Deyal, did little to disrupt the Pride’s momentum.
This, as Captain Raymond Reifer joined the fray with a brisk 65 and added another crucial 50-run stand with Boucher, who contributed a steady 69 off 84 balls in a knock that had seven boundaries. Reifer's 60-ball knock, which included six fours and a six, epitomized controlled aggression that applied further pressure to the Red Force bowlers.
Even when Boucher fell to Deyal and Kevin Wickham (14) went to spinner Khary Pierre, Reifer, and Roston Chase (43), on return from West Indies duties, added another 50 for the fourth wicket.
Chase’s quick-fire 31-ball knock, which had only two fours and a six, ensured the Pride capitalized on the foundation laid by the top order.
Reifer eventually became Deyal’s third scalp, and Chase went to Shannon Gabriel, but the damage was already done as the Pride were at 297-5 at that point. The lower order contributed the remaining runs to the daunting total.
Deyal stood out for the Red Force with figures of 4-53, but his efforts were insufficient to stem the tide.
Facing a mountain of runs, the Red Force faltered early and never recovered. The only bright spot in their reply was a 68-run second wicket partnership between Tion Webster and Amir Jangoo (16). Webster’s aggressive 56 off 47 balls, which featured eight boundaries and a six, gave fleeting hope before he became the fourth wicket to fall with the score at 91.
After Webster’s dismissal, Deyal (34) and Isiah Rajah (28) added a brief 53-run stand for the seventh wicket, but the Red Force were ultimately bowled out for a paltry 186 in just 36.3 overs.
Dominic Drakes led the Pride’s bowling charge with 3-24, with Chase (2-40) and Kemar Smith (2-42) also doing some damage.
The Pride’s dominance sets up a highly anticipated final against the winner of the Jamaica Scorpions versus Leeward Islands Hurricanes semi-final, scheduled for Thursday.
Finish well: Andre Coley eyes redemption, momentum as Windies gear up for Bangladesh Test
West Indies Head coach Andre Coley is exuding quiet confidence as his team prepares for their upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
With the matches—scheduled for November 22-26 in Antigua and November 30 to December 4 in Kingston—marking the final home series in the current World Test Championship cycle, Coley is determined to see the Caribbean side end the year on a high note after recent setbacks.
The West Indies are coming off a disappointing tour of South Africa, where they failed to capitalize on key moments and eventually lost that two-match series 1-0 after the first game ended in a draw. Reflecting on those matches, Coley stressed the importance of learning from the past and seizing the opportunity to close out this series on a strong note.
“Coming off the disappointment of the South Africa series, we put ourselves in a position to close out that series, and we didn’t. So the opportunity is there for us to do so against Bangladesh now, and it is very important for us to come up with a winning result on home soil,” Coley said in a pre-series interview.
“We’ve always had exciting and challenging series against Bangladesh, and this series offers a chance to create momentum as we head into tougher assignments in Australia and Pakistan,” he added.
Coley and his team, which includes players from the regional 50-over tournament and recent white-ball series, are currently in Antigua fine-tuning preparations ahead of Friday’s first day.
Despite initial weather disruptions, Coley pointed out that the team has had productive sessions, with all players fit and ready for action.
While West Indies boast a strong home record against Bangladesh, Coley is keen to keep his squad grounded. He recognizes the challenges posed by Bangladesh and the added intrigue of familiar faces on the opposition side, including Bangladesh Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, a figure Coley knows well.
“Each match brings a different opportunity. We have players who’ve been successful against Bangladesh, both home and away, but we also have some new players who wouldn’t have played in any of those series. So it’s an opportunity for senior players and emerging players to show what they are capable of and what we are capable of as a team,” Coley noted.
The series against Bangladesh serves as a vital stepping stone beyond the larger context of the World Test Championship, as West Indies sit at the foot of the standings in ninth on 20 points.
Still, with four matches left in the cycle, Coley is focused on building a cohesive unit capable of competing at the highest level.
“This series is about putting everything together from the last year and a half and ending the year in good form,” he declared.
That said, the Jamaican highlighted the importance of fan support, especially during the festive season. Cricket remains a unifying force in the Caribbean, and Coley hopes that fans will rally behind the team.
“I know that the West Indian fans really want us to do well and have been supportive in their own way because cricket means a lot to the region and the fans are very passionate about the game. Despite the nature of our squad, emerging and experienced players, everyone in the squad wants to do well, so I want to encourage the fans to come out and support us and give us that extra boost of encouragement at home,” Coley ended.
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