By
Innings break Ireland 172 (McCollum 36, Campher 33, Broad 5-51) vs England
Broad took a flurry of three wickets in the space of eight balls to leave Ireland floundering at 19 for 3 early in the morning session, and claimed another as the dismissals came at more measured intervals after the lunch break.
Campher and Andy McBrine had combined for 38 runs, with Campher unfurling a sumptuous cover drive off Broad and a gloriously wristy pull from the bowling of debutant Josh Tongue amid a couple of more streaky boundaries.
As it had been between McCollum and Paul Stirling earlier however, the Campher-McBrine stand was broken too soon for Ireland’s fortunes when Potts was rewarded for another probing spell. England thought Potts had McBrine out lbw with a ball that struck the back pad, although Potts appeared to be concerned about height as Ben Stokes called for a review and the ball was ultimately shown to be trimming the bails as McBrine prevailed on umpire’s call. But with the next ball, Potts found McBrine’s outside edge and Jonny Bairstow took a straightforward catch behind the stumps.
Earlier, with new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling in tandem with Potts after Stokes had won the toss and sent Ireland in under overcast skies which became bright and clear from the lunch break onwards.
Broad broke through with the second ball of his third over, a fuller one which pitched fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.
Zak Crawley pulled off an excellent dive low to left from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip for no score.
Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.
Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer originally drafted into the squad as injury cover for Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who suffered an ankle injury while playing for Sussex recently, replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 11th over and tested McCollum immediately, bowling excellent lengths and finding some extra bounce and carry to begin with twin maidens.
McCollum was safe on an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad as it passed. McCollum’s checked drive pierced the covers and found the boundary rope to take Ireland past the paltry 38 they managed before being bundled out in their last appearance at this ground when England overcame 85 all out in their first innings to win by 143 runs in 2019.
At the lunch interval, McCollum had faced 93 deliveries for his 29 not out, whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket because of a freak leg fracture suffered while playing golf.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
