Stirling effort from fighting Ireland as they clinch thriller
SPLASHDOWNS, after orbit on cloud nine, are not supposed to be so traumatic.
But as Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie’s brilliant twin hundreds catapulted Ireland to an historic first win on English soil, Eoin Morgan’s World Cup holders suffered an agonising crash landing at the Ageas Bowl.
Chasing 329 for victory on a memorable night, the Irish squeezed home by seven wickets with one ball to spare.
In truth, they sprayed graffiti over England’s triumph 13 months ago like subway vandals.
England won the series 2-1 but they were brutalised by opener Stirling, below, and Ireland captain Balbirnie’s 214-run partnership.
Injured England skipper Morgan, who had hit a century of his own earlier, could only watch helplessly from the dressing room as his toothless attack was brought down to earth.
And his deputy Moeen Ali, taking charge of England for the first time, was powerless to stop Stirling (142) and Balbirnie (113) unleashing their onslaught.
With England finishing a one-day trilogy in darkness and beginning a Test series 240 miles away just hours later, there was always a danger of the white-ball appetiser being a case of before the Lord Mayor’s Show.
And with several big guns cocooned in a separate ‘bubble’ at Old Trafford, the World Cup holders were below strength.
But even in the absence of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, England should have enough firepower to smoke out emerging Test nations.
Instead, there were spooky echoes of Ireland’s famousWorld Cup win over England in Bengaluru.
Nine years ago, Kevin O’Brien played the innings of his life as they chased down 328 to win.
Here, the target was only one run more – and England’s attack was too anaemic to turn back the green tide when Stirling, below, stepped on the gas.
Before the shadows lengthened and the floodlights came on, Morgan had unfurled his 15th ODI century. He shared a 146-run stand in 18 overs with Tom Banton (58).
Morgan went in at 14-2 after Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow had fallen but the skipper’s 78-ball ton was like shelling peas.
In this mood, Morgan wields his bat like a caveman’s club and he looks every inch the batsman headhunted by four different IPL franchises since 2010.
After smashing four sixes and 15 fours, he was unable to field due to a groin problem.
A maiden ODI half-century by Banton was a pleasing snapshot of his potential, but both men fell in an alarming slump from 190-3 to 216-7.
It required David Willey’s 51 to steer England towards their total of 328.
But when Stirling – who also played in that huge upset in 2011 – produced his response, the asking rate of 6.58 runs per over looked as tame as a tabby cat.