England vs Ireland 2019: Ireland in a strong position at the end of Day 1 

It was a great moment for Ireland cricket as they ended in a strong position after the first day of the one-off Test match against hosts England played at Lord's, London on Wednesday.

England captain Joe Root won the toss and decided to bat first. The decision did not pay off as Tim Murtagh struck early to dismiss the debutant Jason Roy for 5.

Joe Denly and Rory Burns struggled against the Ireland bowlers, but remained steady and added 28 runs for the 2nd wicket. Murtagh then struck again, getting the wicket of Burns for 6.

From 36 for 2, Ireland reduced the hosts to 43 for 7. Murtagh picked the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes to leave England in big trouble.

Tim Murtagh

With the final wicket of Olly Stone, the innings ended at a shockingly low 85 in 23.4 overs. The umpire called lunch after the last wicket.

After the lunch break, William Porterfield and James McCollum got off to a good start, adding 32 runs for the opening wicket. Sam Curran got the breakthrough by dismissing Porterfield for 19.

Curran struck again soon, dismissing the other opener McCollum for 14. Andy Balbirine and Paul Stirling then played with positive intent to put pressure on the England bowlers.

Balbirine reached his fifty off 56 balls, and Ireland went into the tea break at 127 for 2.

Andy Balbirnie

After the tea break, Stuart Broad struck immediately to dismiss Paul Stirling for 36. Stirling and Balbirine had added 87 runs for the 3rd wicket.

The English bowlers then wrecked the Ireland middle order. Murtagh scored a quick-fire 12 off 7 balls while Kevin O' Brien remained not out on 28. Ireland were bowled out for 207 with a lead of 122 runs.

Olly Stone, Stuart Broad and Sam Curran took 3 wickets each. England ended the 1st day on 0 for 0.

Brief scores: England 0 for 0 in 1 over and 85 in 23.4 overs (Joe Denly 23, Olly Stone 19, Tim Murtagh 5/13, Mark Adair 3/32) trail Ireland 207 in 58.2 overs (Andy Balbirnie 55, Paul Stirling 36, Sam Curran 3/28, Olly Stone 3/29) by 122 runs.