Chasing what’s rated as an easy target in modern-day cricket, England registered the seri🎐es-clinching victory ൲against Ireland at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Saturday (August 1).
A scintillating pyrotechnics form Johnny Bairstow and a miserly effort from English bowlers, especially Adil Rashid’s masterclass, ensured a comfortable victory for the hosts.
Even though England kept losing wickets at a regular interval, Bairstow stood firm and bullied the Irish bowlers with his audacious strokeplay. ♎He scored a fiery 41-balls 82 before falling to Joshua Little.
Bairstow’s dismissal triggered a mini-collapse as the next two batsmen, Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali, walked back without bothering the scoreboard. Both of them fell prey to Little, bringing England in a precarious position.
At this juncture, with the scoreboard reading 143 f🏅or six, David Willey and Sam Billings formed a crucial partnership to steady the English ship. Both of them combined for 79 runs to drive England past the 212-runs target.
Meanwhile, for Ireland,📖 top-order batsmen once again failed to make any substantial contribution as the tourists lost their five batsmen for a meagre score of 78 runs inside 25 overs.
Ireland’s openers Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany failed to provide an excellent start to the visitors as both of them succumbed to a swing-and-seam masterclass from Willey.
Rashid ke꧃pt striking in the middle overs as the ♚leggie returned with economical figures of 3-34.
In the 16th over, Rashid bowled an absolute peach of a delivery, a well-executed googly, to dismiss Kevin O’Brien.
The rig﷽ht-handed batsman lunged forwar𝓀d for a usual leg-spin but got wrong-footed as the ball spun back in sharply to dismantle his stumps.
Here’s the video:
Googly /ˈguːgli/ [noun]
Definition: Off break bowled with apꩲparent leg-break action
Example: Adil Rashid
Live score/clips:
— England Cricket (@englandcricket)
The leg-spinner has sent back O’Brien for the second time in as many matches in the ongoing series.
The last match of the series wi⛄ll be played on Tuesday (August 4) at the same venue.
