Campher in the van for Ireland!
IRELAND were well beaten by world champions England in the first of their three-game One Day International series in Southampton yesterday, but the assured display by Curtis Campher on debut offers hope. The former South African underage international, who qualifies for Ireland through the grandparent rule, came into bat when Andrew Balbirnie’s side were facing humiliation at 28-5 and steadied the ship with an unbeaten 59 to help Ireland to a face-saving 172. England, led by Dublin’s Eoin Morgan, picked off the total in 27.5 overs but were wobbling at 78-4 when the 21-year-old Campher showed his all-round talents by taking the wicket of Tom Banton. The sides meet again in Southampton tomorrow.
‘Maybe there was some rust ... it was very disappointing’
ENGLAND overcame Ireland by six wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series between the sides at the Ageas Bowl, despite an excellent allround performance from Curtis Campher on international debut.
The South African youngster, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandmother, became the first Irish player — and 14th overall — to score a half-century and take a wicket in his maiden ODI, rescuing Ireland with the bat before dismissing Tom Banton with the ball.
At that point, world champions England, chasing 173, were 78-4 and in a scrap.
After Barry McCarthy left the field with an injury in the first over of Ireland’s reply, both openers were removed lbw, Jonny Bairstow by Andy McBrine and Jason Roy by Craig Young just as he was beginning to score freely.
Young then nicked off a similarly fluent-looking James Vince to leave the hosts three down inside 10 overs before Campher’s removal of Banton broke a burgeoning partnership between him and Sam Billings.
However, with some fieldmanoeuvring sweeps and crunching drives, Billings (67*) and England captain Eoin Morgan (36*) eased the building pressure to secure victory.
The defeat could have been far heavier but new Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie was understandably dejected afterwards, feeling that Ireland failed to do themselves justice.
‘It was very disappointing, we didn’t assess conditions early enough, had a bad five to six overs and we can’t afford that,’ said the Ireland skipper.
‘Our training has been good but you can’t replicate matches and maybe there was some rust.
‘We need to be able to assess conditions better. They bowled well up front, but Curtis Campher was very good, he dug in and got a decent score.
‘We managed to get in the game but 170 is never going to be enough,’ added Balbirnie.
Earlier, Ireland were dragged from the depths of 29-5 to 172 all out by an excellent half-century from Campher.
Playing just his second List A game, the 21-year-old walked in at No 7 in the seventh over to face a hat-trick ball from David Willey, who had already taken four wickets and had brought Ireland to the point of humiliation.
However, the right-hander negotiated the delivery calmly, as he would the next 117 in his maiden knock.
At that stage, only Gareth Delany, who struck five boundaries in 10 balls at one stage, had made it into double figures, with Ireland reeling early on playing their first full international since March. Paul Stirling fell inside the first over, chipping Willey to Eoin
Morgan at midwicket, and Balbirnie followed soon after, nicking behind off the same bowler.
Harry Tector, Ireland’s other ODI debutant, played on off Saqib Mahmood, the first of three wickets to fall in six balls with the score on 28. Delany skewed a thick edge to backward point, while Lorcan Tucker was pinned LBW first ball, paving the way for Campher’s entrance.
A half-century stand between Kevin O’Brien and the youngster took Ireland to 79 before the former and Simi Singh fell in the same over. O’Brien attempted to go after the economical Adil Rashid but only succeeded in finding Willey at long-off, and Singh was run out.
McBrine then joined Campher for a sterling 66-run stand, Ireland’s second-highest for the eighth wicket in ODIs.
Campher was content to hold up an end and let McBrine play around him, with the latter striking the only six of the innings in his 48-ball knock. He fell pulling, caught by Sam Billings off Tom Curran, but Barry McCarthy and Craig Young stuck around for long enough to help Ireland past 150 and near to 175.
The latter fell to Willey, who claimed his maiden ODI fivewicket haul. Campher meanwhile was unmoveable, finishing unbeaten on 59, the second-highest score by an Irish ODI debutant and the second-highest by a No.7 on men’s ODI debut from all teams. His day wasn’t quite done yet, but England would have just enough firepower to ease home.
England captain Eoin Morgan, facing his former team, was satisfied with the result, given the extended break from action and the fact the hosts were missing a clutch of players who inspired their World Cup glory last year — the likes of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer unavailable due to their Test commitments.
‘I’m pretty happy, winning the toss and bowling isn’t always easy here but David Willey was outstanding today,’ said the Dubliner of the experienced bowler who had a point to prove having missed out on World Cup selection last year.
‘Where he’s been in the last year or so, missing out on the World Cup, it’s a fantastic story and comeback,’ said Morgan.
‘I am delighted to have him back and firing. He and Saqib (Mahmood) were outstanding, they really did peg Ireland back.
‘Having posted a relatively low score it’s always nice to get a partnership, me and Sam got going, so I am delighted to start the series with a win.
‘The more times we can see guys in pressure situations, the more we can find out about them.”
The result meant England claimed 10 points from the first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League fixture.
The next game in the series, which also counts towards the Super League, will take place at the same venue tomorrow, starting at 2pm.