England bundled out for 85 before lunch on Day 1 of lone Ireland Test
England, who were playing their first match after clinching the 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s World Cup title, failed to replicate a similar kind of performance and were bundled out for humiliating 85 before lunch on the opening day of the one-off Test match against Ireland at Lord’s on Wednesday.
After Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first, Ireland bowler Tim Murtagh ripped through the England batting line-up as he claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings to skittle the recent World Cup champions for their ninth-lowest total in a home Test.
Murtagh finished with the terrific figures of five for 13. He was followed by Mark Richard Adair, who recorded the figures of three for 32.
Meanwhile, Boyd Rankin also ended with economical figures of two for five runs.
For England, Joe Denly was the highest scorer with 23 runs. Olly Stone, who made his Test debut, was the second-highest scorer and the last man out for 19 in the last over before lunch.
Notably, it was the first time that an England side has been bowled out at iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground before lunch. It was also their fifth shortest Test innings in terms of balls bowled i.e 23.4 overs.
The shocking collapse of the England men’s cricket team came just a few days after they sealed their maiden ICC World Cup title on the basis of more number of boundaries scored than New Zealand after the first-ever Super-Over in the tournament’s final clash also ended in a tie.
