Riding on Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie’s batting masterclass, Ireland defeated England by seven wickets in the third and final ODI at Southampton on Wednesday (August 4).
It was a high-scoring thriller in which England posted 328/10 in 49.5 overs on the back of skipper Eoin Morgan’s 84-ball 106 and fifties from Tom Banton (58 off 51 balls) and David Willey (51 off 42 balls).
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In reply, Ireland overhauled the target with a ball to spare thanks to Stirling and Balbirnie’s 214-run partnership for the second wicket. While Stirling smashed 128-ball 142 in the chase, captain Balbirnie’s scored 113 off 112 balls.
For his 9th ODI ton, Stirling was adjudged Player-of-the-Match and the Irish opener was delighted to play this knock in a winning cause against the World Champions.
"It was brilliant to get our first win in the competition, especially after a couple of tough games, showed a lot of character to come back. We've chased over 300 a number of times, particularly in World Cups, so we knew we could do it, freed us up to go hard at the top, have a bit of fun and it was a solid chase in the end.
"We haven't played for so long, you get used to sticking your pads on having some nerves and then you get back to normal. You get past that and feel like you're back to normal again. Nice to go on. [Partnership?] Love batting with Bal, we seem to put on good partnerships. Great to bat with and his knock was pretty special as well. This (innings) is up there, definitely, against England in England, nice knock to have but it's the win and the team that counts," Stirling said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Ireland skipper was also pleased with the consolation victory, having conceded the three-ODI series in the first two games itself.
"We're delighted with how that finished, didn't perform with the bat at all in the first two ODIs, so to come back in the field and then chase a total like that against a good side was great. We thought we could chase it but we had to bat well. Faded a bit in the field but manged to take regular wickets and 320-330 we knew we were in the game.
"I tried to be positive, different to Paul but we dovetailed well, and we created the big partnership which went a long way to winning the game. [Super League] It's going to be a scrap for us, we have to be competitive in all our games, we're grateful for the opportunity to come here, to the ECB for putting it on, and to come away with 10 points. We've got two weeks back home in quarantine and we have to get through that and back to training, but we're grateful and hopefully there'll be many more fixtures ahead," Balbirnie said after the match.
England captain Eoin Morgan also acknowledged that they were completely outplayed in the match.
"Full credit to Ireland, they've outplayed us today. We had an average day, stuttered throughout, we rebuilt from three down and then stuttered again, got to in-and-around a par score. But Ireland played well, and we have to thank them for coming over.
"Paul Stirling came out and had a good day but we failed to take opportunities when they arose. We weren't on top of our game today. We're learning more about players coming in and have opportunities to show what they can to. David WiIley, Sam Billings, Tom Banton, the bowling unit... Today was an insight on a better wicket what 50-over international cricket is like. It can be cruel," Morgan said.
