Plunkett, Curran shine as Jofra makes England debut

A wet outfield in Dublin put Jofra Archer's much-anticipated England debut on tenterhooks, but it eventually came after a delay and a reduction in overs [45-overs-a-side]. Archer began well, and picked up his first international wicket for England with a typical 90 miles-an-hour yorker, but it was his fellow fast bowlers Liam Plunkett and Tom Curran who shone brighter on a day when Ireland batsmen suffered from poor shot selection, allowing England to bowl them out for a paltry 198.

Ireland's experienced openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling made a confident start with a 55-run stand. The trouble for the hosts though came from the 14th over, after Plunkett and Curran took out three of the top four batsmen in the space of 19 deliveries. Ireland fell from 70 for 3 in the 15th over to 111 for 6 in the 25th over. George Dockrell and Mark Richard Adair led a mini-recovery, until Jofra's precision broke the stand by taking out the latter.

That wicket led to the quick dismantling of the innings, as Curran and Plunkett each picked up a wicket more to finish with excellent bowling figures of 3 for 35 and 4 for 35 respectively, as Ireland's innings ended on 198 in the 44th over.

Brief Scores: Ireland 198 in 43.1 overs (Paul Stirling 33, March Richard Adair 32; Liam Plunkett 4-35, Tom Curran 3-35) vs England