England vs Ireland, 2020: 3rd ODI – Ireland breaks India's record, A match of centurion captains, Ireland's maiden win and more stats

Ireland opened their points tally in the Men’s Super League following a close 7-wicket win against the World champions England. The home team, who batted first, were bowled out for only 328 despite Eoin Morgan’s 84-ball 106 backed by fifties from Tom Banton (58) and David Willey (51). The partnership between Paul Stirling (142) and Andrew Balbirnie (113) took the game away from England’s grasp as the duo put on 214 runs from only 32.4 overs. Kevin O’Brien and Harry Tector gave finishing touches as Ireland reached the target with only one ball to spare.

Here we look at all the statistical highlights from England’s 7-wicket victory during the 3rd ODI:

Ireland’s maiden win in England:

1 – This win is Ireland’s first-ever victory against the England team on the English soil. Ireland played four ODIs and a Test match in England against the hosts before this match and ended up losing all.

In overall, Ireland ended their 9-match losing streak in International cricket on England soil. Their previous and first win in England came against Bangladesh by 6 wickets in the WT20 2009. It was also the first-ever International game that Ireland played in India.

Ireland breaks India’s record:

329 – Ireland’s chase of 329 in this match is the highest successful ODI chase by a visiting team in England. Ireland, in this process, broke the record held by India with a 326-run chase during the 2002 NatWest Final at the Lord’s against the home team.

329 – This target of 329 is also the 3rd biggest in ODI cricket which was chased down successfully for the loss of three or fewer wickets. India chased down 360 against Australia in the 2013 Jaipur ODI for the loss of one wicket while England completed a chase of 350 against New Zealand in 2015 Nottingham ODI also by losing three wickets.

End of England and Ireland’s streaks:

1 – Ireland registered their first ODI win of 2020 as they lost all the five ODI matches played this year prior to this match. This was also Ireland’s first ODI win since whitewashing Zimbabwe in a 3-match ODI series at home in July 2019.

7 – The 7-wicket defeat on Tuesday brought an end to England’s 7-match winning streak in ODI cricket at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl. Coming into this game, England won all seven ODIs they played at this venue beginning from the 2016 home season.

A match of centuries for captains:

1 – Eoin Morgan and Andrew Balbirnie became the first pair of captains to score centuries in an ODI on England soil. However, the duo’s tally of 219 runs is the 2nd most by captains during an ODI in England. The last year’s CWC match between Australia and Sri Lanka witnessed an aggregate of 250 runs by the captains. This match was overall the 5th instance of both team captains scoring hundreds in a Men’s ODI game.

The first of the five instances came during the 2013 Dublin ODI also between Ireland and England where Morgan responded with a hundred in a chance following William Porterfield’s effort. The other three occasions involved Virat Kohli who scored a century after his opposition numbers Mushfiqur Rahim, Angelo Mathews and Faf du Plessis scored tons.

2 – Andrew Balbirnie became only the 2nd captain to score a century in ODI format for Ireland. William Porterfield was the first Irish skipper to score an ODI ton and went on to hit eight more. However, Balbirnie’s 113 is the 3rd highest ODI score as captain for Ireland.

3 – Eoin Morgan’s 106-run knock is only the 3rd century by an England captain during a home ODI which resulted in a defeat. Nasser Hussain’s 115 against India in the 2002 NatWest Final and Sir Alastair Cook’s 119 against Sri Lanka in the 2011 Lord’s ODI were the other two instances.

A record partnership:

227 – The partnership of 227 runs between Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie is now the 2nd biggest partnership for Ireland in ODI cricket. However, the highest stand remains 227 for the 4th wicket between William Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien during the 2007 Nairobi ODI against Kenya.

3 – The duo of Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie became only the 3rd in Ireland to record two hundreds in the same ODI game. William Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien scored tons during the 2007 Nairobi ODI against Kenya while the pair of Porterfield and Balbirnie replicated it in the 2018 Dubai ODI against UAE.

A big hundred from Stirling:

142 – The knock of 142 by Paul Stirling is now the highest individual score for Ireland in ODI matches against England. This is also the 2nd highest individual score during a successful ODI chase against England in England. Sanath Jayasuriya scored 152 during the 2006 Leeds ODI where Sri Lanka chased a 320+ target losing only two wickets.