Seamer Josh Tongue took five wickets to help England thrash Ireland by 10 wickets in the one-off four-day Test at Lord’s on Saturday.
Having bowled out Ireland for 172 in the first innings, England effectively batted the side out of the match when it 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 on day three, Harry Tector got Ireland off to a strong start, scoring 51 off 98 balls before holing out to point for debutant Tongue’s fourth wicket of the innings.
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.
Matthew Potts broke the stand when Adair, on 88, got the slightest of touches on a delivery as it flew through to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.
McBrine battled on after Fionn Hand became Tongue’s fifth scalp, scoring 86 not out as he dragged Ireland over the line and forced the hosts to bat again, albeit briefly.
Chasing a paltry target of 11, England opener Zak Crawley hit Adair for three boundaries in four balls to seal England’s 11th win in 13 tests.
England now shifts focus to the Ashes series, which gets under way at Edgbaston on June 16, after Australia’s match against India in the World Test Championship at the Oval from June 7.
England named an unchanged squad for the first two tests of the five-match series, with Tongue retaining his place after his impressive showing against Ireland.
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