Seamer Josh Tongue took five wickets to help England thrash Ireland by 10 wickets in the one-off Test at Lord’s on Saturday ahead of the Ashes series against Australia, but the visitors salvaged pride with a brave batting effort on the third day.
Having bowled out Ireland for 172 in their first innings, England effectively batted them out of the match when they declared on 524/4 with a massive lead of 352 runs after Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett made big centuries on Friday.
Resuming on 97/3, Harry Tector got Ireland off to a strong start, scoring 51 off 98 balls.
Lorcan Tucker and Curtis Campher also departed before lunch to leave Ireland reeling, a third successive innings defeat seemingly inevitable after two heavy losses to Sri Lanka in April.
Andy McBrine and Mark Adair launched an effective counter-attack, however, in a blistering seventh-wicket stand, scoring 163 runs off 165 balls — the highest-ever test partnership for Ireland.
England now shift focus to the Ashes series, which gets under way at Edgbaston on June 16.
England have named an unchanged squad for the first two Tests of the five-match series.
Brief scores: Ireland 172 & 362 (Andy McBrine 86, Mark Adair 88; Josh Tongue 5/66). England 524/4 decl. & 12/0. England won by 10 wickets.
Reuters
