Phil Salt Leads the English Team to Maiden T20 Victory Over Ireland

First T20, Malahide

Ireland 196-3 (20 overs): Harry Tector 61* (36), Tucker 55 (36)

England 197-6 (17.4 overs): Phil Salt 89 (46)

England won by four wickets and lead the contest 1-0

The explosive opener again starred for the English team as they defeated Ireland by 4 wickets in the first match of a three-match T20 series in Dublin.

Salt blasted 89 off forty-six deliveries but came up short of what would have been his back-to-back consecutive hundred when he was taken by an Irish fielder with the last ball of the fifteenth over.

However, Salt had done most of the hard work of the chase for England, who finished the job of pursuing the host's 196-3 with over two overs to spare.

Playing without their all-format players, England were captained by the young skipper for the first time, with the youngster hitting twenty-four off 16 balls before a tame swipe to the fielder just as he appeared to be finding the gears.

In what was their initial international of the season since a T20 win over the Caribbean side on June 15, the Irish team will have believed their tally, which included fifties for both Harry Tector and Tucker, was a challenging one.

But just five days after their stunning 304-2 against the Proteas on a historic night in Old Trafford, a revamped England began their reply in emphatic fashion before the hosts fought back for some consolation wickets.

The win represented the team's maiden victory over Ireland in the format in what was their second completed game, and the teams will face off again at Malahide on the next match and Sunday.

On the day when Bethell became the most junior player to captain an England team, his initial decision as Harry Brook's temporary skipper was to win the toss and put the opponents in to bat.

With all the pre-match talk about the volume of matches, or lack thereof, played by the Irish team in the lead-up to this series, there will have been plenty of interest in how the opening pair Paul Stirling and Ross Adair fared.

Although there were certainly a few instances when the pair appeared to be looking for their rhythm in the early overs, they were 49-0 at the end of the powerplay, with the skipper in particular providing some big hitting.

Among the skipper's four maximums, a couple were driven onto the roof of the pavilion at the compact ground in Malahide.

After providing the steady start, the batsmen were dismissed in rapid succession with Adair taken on the rope by Salt in the 8th over when trying a sweep over the leg side off the bowling of Liam Dawson.

9 deliveries and 10 runs later, Paul Stirling was also out after swiping at the bowling of Rashid with Jacks taking the catch.

Coming in of Harry Tector and then Tucker to the crease saw Ireland run an increased number of singles for the remainder of their innings but he still struck seven boundaries in his not out sixty-one from thirty-six balls.

Tector, who reached his own fifty with a drive for a maximum, nearly lasted to the end of the innings, only to edge the penultimate delivery into the gloves of Jos Buttler.

Without the services of Mark Adair and Josh Little in their attack, it was the spin bowling of Matthew Humphreys who started the Irish bowling against Phil Salt in the English opener's initial innings since reaching a century off just 39 balls against the Proteas at Old Trafford recently.

England rapidly set about pursuing their target of 197.

Once McCarthy and Graham Hume could find no solution for England's powerful batting, Young somewhat checked their rapid progress in the fourth over, before Humphreys' return saw the wicketkeeper sky one to Campher to fall for 28 off 10 balls.

Despite the loss of their opening wicket, the team still ended the first six overs on 84-1 with the opener's fifty coming off just 20 deliveries.

He would survive being dismissed off a bowler's no-ball but kept to hit Ireland's bowlers to all corners of the stadium.

The captain's exit came after striking a six over the makeshift stand before Gareth Delany celebrated his 100th Irish appearance with the dismissal of Rehan Ahmed.

Despite Hume took the dismissals of Sam Curran and Salt in the fifteenth over, England always looked on course for the win with Overton ultimately providing the winning runs with 20 deliveries to spare.