ENG Vs IRE: Ben Stokes Becomes 1st Captain In Test Cricket’s 146-Year-Old History To Achieve Unique Feat
England registered a huge 10-wicket win over Ireland in the one-off Test at Lord’s in London as the Ben Stokes-led side began their 2023 home summer on a thumping note. In what is going to be a big home season as far as the red-ball cricket is concerned, England made a fantastic start as batters and bowlers both came to party and just were too strong for the young Irish team, who is still new in Test cricket at this level. However, as Ireland skipper Andy Balbirnie said, getting England to bat again was a small win after a record 163-run stand between Mark Adair and Andy McBrine for the 7th wicket.
Earlier Stuart Broad’s fifer in the first innings meant Ireland were bowled out for a paltry 172 before England batters made merry. Ollie Pope slammed his maiden double century while Ben Duckett fell short of it by just 18 runs. Joe Root and Zak Crawley scored 56 each as England posted a huge 524/4 before the declaration. After another top-order collapse, thanks to debutant Josh Tongue, Ireland rebuilt and managed to overhaul the 352-run lead but wasn’t enough to get anywhere close to a win.
With this win, Stokes achieved a unique feat as he became the first captain in Test cricket history to win a match without batting, bowling or keeping. Stokes didn’t bowl a single over in the two innings and declared the innings after the fall of the fourth wicket before he or Jonny Bairstow could have a hit.
Both teams treated this as a glorified warm-up game with their eyes on a different prize. For England, this was a build-up towards the Ashes series, which begins in less than a couple of weeks at Edgbaston while Ireland are gearing up for the World Cup qualifiers next month in Zimbabwe.
