Phil Salt Leads England to Maiden T20 Triumph Over Ireland

First T20, Malahide

Ireland 196-3 (20 overs): Harry Tector 61* (36), Lorcan Tucker 55 (36)

The visitors 197-6 (17.4 overs): Salt 89 (46)

The English side sealed victory by four wickets and top the series 1-0

Phil Salt once more shone for England as they defeated Ireland by four wickets in the opening match of a three-game T20 contest in Malahide.

The England opener smashed 89 off 46 balls but missed out of what would have been his back-to-back consecutive century when he was taken by Ross Adair with the final delivery of the fifteenth over.

At that stage, Salt had broken the hard work of the chase for his team, who completed the job of pursuing Ireland's 196 for three with over two overs to remaining.

Playing without their senior stars, England were led by the young skipper for the first time, with the 21-year-old hitting twenty-four off sixteen balls before a soft shot to the fielder just as he appeared to be going through the rhythm.

In what was their first fixture of the season since a T20 victory over the Caribbean side on June 15, Ireland will have believed their total, which included fifties for both Harry Tector and Tucker, was a competitive one.

But just less than a week after their remarkable 304 for two against South Africa on a historic night in Old Trafford, a much-changed side began their reply in dominant fashion before the hosts fought back for some consolation wickets.

This victory represented the team's maiden victory over the Irish in the format in what was their second completed game, and the two sides will meet again at Malahide on Friday and Sunday.

On the day when Bethell became the youngest player to lead an English team, his first act as Harry Brook's temporary skipper was to win the toss and put the opponents in to bat.

Amid all the pre-match talk about the amount of cricket, or lack thereof, played by the Irish team in the build-up to this contest, there will have been plenty of interest in how openers Stirling and Adair performed.

While there were undoubtedly a few instances when the pair appeared to be searching for their timing in the initial overs, they were 49-0 at the end of the powerplay, with Stirling in particular providing some powerful strokes.

Of the captain's quartet sixes, two were driven onto the top of the hospitality tent at the compact ground in north Dublin.

After providing the solid start, the batsmen were dismissed in quick succession with Adair caught on the rope by Salt in the 8th over when trying a sweep over the leg side off the bowling of Dawson.

Nine deliveries and 10 runs later, Stirling was also out after swiping at the bowling of Rashid with Will Jacks taking the catch.

The arrivals of Tector and then Lorcan Tucker to the wicket saw the batting side take an increased number of singles for the rest of their batting effort but Tector still added 7 boundaries in his not out sixty-one from thirty-six balls.

Tector, who brought up his own half-century with a drive for six, almost batted to the end of the spell, only to deflect the penultimate delivery into the hands of Jos Buttler.

Lacking the availability of Mark Adair and Little in their bowling unit, it was the left-arm spin of Humphreys who opened the host bowling against Salt in the visiting opener's first innings since reaching a hundred off just thirty-nine balls against the Proteas at Manchester last week.

England quickly set about pursuing their goal of one hundred and ninety-seven.

After McCarthy and Hume could discover no solution for England's big-hitting, Craig Young slightly slowed their fast progress in the fourth over, before the spinner's second spell saw Buttler sky one to Curtis Campher to be dismissed for 28 off ten balls.

In spite of the loss of their first wicket, England still finished the powerplay on 84 for one with Salt's fifty coming off just 20 deliveries.

Salt would escape being caught off a bowler's illegal delivery but continued to knock the host's bowlers to all corners of the ground.

Bethell's exit came after hitting a six over the makeshift stand before Delany marked his hundredth Irish appearance with the wicket of Ahmed.

Despite Hume took the dismissals of Curran and the opener in the 15th over, the chasing side always looked on course for victory with Jamie Overton ultimately providing the winning runs with 20 deliveries to spare.