Stirling, Balbirnie star as Ireland chase 329 against England in third ODI
Southampton [UK], Aug 5 (ANI): Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie played knocks of 142 and 113 respectively to help Ireland defeat England by seven wickets in the third and final ODI of the three-match series on Tuesday (local time) here at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
With this win, Ireland managed to go away with a consolation win and England went away with 2-1 series win.
In the recently launched World Cup ODI Super League, England now has 20 points while Ireland has 10.
Chasing 329, Ireland openers Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany put up 50 runs for the first wicket, but England finally got the breakthrough in the ninth over as David Willey bowled Delany (12).
Skipper Andrew Balbirnie (113) then joined Stirling (142) in the middle and the duo stitched together a partnership of 214 runs for the second wicket, which saw both batsmen registering their respective centuries.
England managed to send both batsmen back to the pavilion by the 45th over, but in the end, Harry Tector (29*) and Kevin O'Brien (21*) ensured Ireland's win by seven wickets and with one ball to spare.
Earlier, skipper Eoin Morgan's knock of 106 runs helped England to post a total of 328 in the allotted fifty overs.
Asked to bat first, England lost its first three wickets with just 44 runs on the board as Jason Roy (1), Jonny Bairstow (4), and James Vince (16) were sent back to the pavilion within the first nine overs.
Skipper Morgan played a counter-attacking inning and the left-handed batsman found support in Tom Banton as the duo retrieved the England innings by stitching together a partnership of 146 runs for the fourth wicket.
Morgan went on to play a knock of 106 runs, while Banton registered 58 runs. However, the duo was sent back to the pavilion by the 29th over, reducing England to 202/5.
Joshua Little got the wicket of Morgan while Gareth Delany sent Banton back to the pavilion. England, then quickly lost the wickets of Sam Billings (19) and Moeen Ali (1), and was reduced to 216/7 in the 34th over.
In the final over, David Willey and Tom Banton played useful knocks of 51 and 38 respectively to take England's score past the 320-run mark.
Brief Scores: Ireland 329/3 (Paul Stirling 142, Andrew Balbirnie 113, Adil Rashid 1-61) defeat England 328/10 (Eoin Morgan 106, Tom Banton 58, Craig Young 3-53) by seven wickets. (ANI)
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