Dead rubber? No chance! Ireland create history at the Ageas Bowl

SAM MORSHEAD AT THE AGEAS BOWL: In such a hollow atmosphere, laid empty by a pandemic, the screams of delight emanating from the Ireland dressing room as the ball skirted out to fine leg for the winning single echoed poignantly

Scorecard

Southampton: England 328, Ireland 329-3 - Ireland won by 7 wickets

Once upon a time, this would have been widely billed as a dead rubber.

Ireland might have turned up at the Ageas Bowl - or, more accurately, opened their curtains overlooking the Southampton venue - a little down on motivation; not because of a lack of enthusiasm about representing their country but because the series was lost, the tour was almost at an end and, just maybe, they were tired.

They might have creaked at the sight of Eoin Morgan romping along, slapping the ball from corner to corner with characteristic disdain, and cringed at the thought of chasing 328 long into the south-coast evening.

That was before the advent of the World Cup Super League. There’s more riding on one-day internationals now, and so came a performance that will live long in Irish memories. 

From the moment Morgan miscued a top edge to gully in the 26th over of the match, when England were 190 for 3, the home captain already settled in the three figures, and the sort of mountainous total which typified his side’s journey to the top of the world loitering on the horizon, Ireland rallied. 

Ten World Cup qualifying points would certainly not have been the only carrot in the minds of the Irish bowlers and fielders as they turned 190 for 3 into 218 for 7, snipping much more than the head off a potentially mammoth England score.

And it would not have been the only incentive for Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie as they got to grips with England’s new-ball operators and took the charge to them - finally, after two matches unnecessarily spent in their opponents’ shadows.

^{Kevin O'Brien and Harry Tector celebrate victory over England}

But it’s hard to accept that those 10 points, which could mean so much in Ireland’s pursuit of a place at the 2023 World Cup in India, did not steady resolve, tighten defences and focus minds. 

It is days like this for which the Super League was designed - a model which, in theory, should make qualification for major tournaments a formality only if the more established country’s at the ICC’s top table deserve it. Meritocracy of sorts, in a sport which often forgets the word’s meaning.

Ireland’s route to India will depend on nights like these in Southampton, as they look to accumulate enough victories to creep into the top seven, all the while gathering more and more top-level experience. It is a progressive structure, even if at the end of it all the game’s quadrennial showpiece event remains as open to outsiders as a Bilderberg cocktail party.

All of that gives extra context to bilateral ODI cricket, and extra motivation on these evenings.

In another world, Stirling and Balbirnie may well have come together for a stand worth 214 in less than 34 overs, and Gareth Delany might still have produced six overs of lace-tightening legspin at a time when England were threatening to do Irish spirits serious harm. But when there is more at stake, performances are raised - and here, undoubtedly, more was at stake.

Stirling was magnificent, striking the ball cleanly into the legside throughout, clearing left-field time and again off both the seam of Saqib Mahmood and Adil Rashid’s legspin. An established figure on the county circuit prior to being quite ruthlessly forced to pick between his county and his country by ECB regulations, there is little mystery to his game. 

On this particular occasion, however, he proved to be an absolute enigma. 

Without Morgan on the field during the chase - after feeling tightness in his groin during his own flashbang hundred in the first innings, the skipper left Moeen Ali to steer the ship - the home side looked ropey, if not rudderless. 

Ireland avoided their meek collapses of the first two matches of the series, and found a wicket that offered plenty of opportunities to score, if only they showed the application.

^{Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling both hit hundreds for Ireland}

Stirling and Balbirnie applied themselves wholly, and claimed handsome rewards. 

While Balbirnie’s century was more workmanlike, relying on intelligent working of the field, Stirling employed brutal counter-punching, and that combination of powderpuff and powderkeg was hugely effective.

England gave two lives to Stirling, both spilled catches by James Vince - a sharp chance to his right and a steepler high into the night sky, both at midwicket - but to say fortune favoured the Irish opener would be to ignore the utter control he had over England’s attack.

Likewise Balbirnie, though nowhere near as eyecatching, found a groove which rang long and true. Every option which had proved so devastating for the hosts during the series so far was blunted.

The pair could not quite see the job through, Stirling was run out for a masterful 142, while Balbirnie hacked into the deep for 113, but Kevin O’Brien - the man at the centre of it all on that night in Bangalore nine years ago when Ireland dented English egos at the World Cup - joined Harry Tector to make sure the night belonged to the Irish.

In such a hollow atmosphere, laid empty by a pandemic, the screams of delight emanating from the Ireland dressing room as the ball skirted out to fine leg for the winning single echoed poignantly. There might not have been many here with them to celebrate, but that never stood a chance of dampening the mood.

Dead rubber? No chance.