Trott and Morgan leave Ireland disappointed

Their trio of debutants had a tough introduction to international cricket, James Taylor and Ben Stokes making four between them and Scott Borthwick on the receiving end of two big sixes from O’Brien.

But, having made 201-8 in 42 overs, Eoin Morgan’s side successfully defended a rain-revised Duckworth-Lewis target of 129 in 23 overs.

Jonathan Trott (69) and first-time captain Morgan (59) did the bulk of the batting work, while Ireland’s chances of getting over the line suffered an irreparable blow when Jade Dernbach yorked O’Brien, the man whose 63-ball 113 stunned England in the World Cup.

Starting the chase, Paul Stirling hit one fearful six over cover but fell two balls later attempting a second big blow off Steven Finn.

Ed Joyce, who won 17 ODI caps for England before recommitting to Ireland, became Finn’s second victim when Craig Kieswetter took a thin edge behind the stumps.

The rain came after 13 overs of the reply, William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien the men at the crease. That left Ireland on 42-2 but the showers threatened to frustrate both teams.

The statisticians busily calculated and recalculated the Duckworth-Lewis target as the rain stopped and started, eventually settling on an equation of 87 off the remaining 60 balls. Durham leg-spinner Borthwick was handed his first over for England after the restart, though he can claim little credit for Porterfield’s lazy run-out off his second delivery. That brought Kevin O’Brien to the crease and he soon found his range.

He heaved his third and fourth balls over the ropes, seeing Borthwick out of the attack after an over. His brother Niall fell looking for a six of his own, pulling Dernbach to Finn at square leg, with Nigel Jones lasting four balls before being bowled by a slower ball from Ravi Bopara.

Kevin O’Brien made 26 from 15 balls before a fine Dernbach yorker clattered leg stump, taking Ireland’s hopes with it.

From then on Ireland found the odd boundary but lost John Mooney (15) and Gary Wilson (13) to the cause to finish 117-8.

England’s innings had little to recommend it outside of the 102-run third-wicket stand between Morgan and Trott.

Trott and Morgan looked comfortable after an hour’s rain delay reduced the innings to 42 overs.

Morgan, warmly welcomed by the Irish fans, quickly settled into a groove on his hometown pitch, thrashing Kevin O’Brien for successive fours.

England’s Ireland-born captain was beginning to time the ball sweetly and clubbed his fourth boundary over mid-off as he overtook Trott. The Warwickshire man took the hint and promptly lifted Alex Cusack over cover, following up with a reverse swept four off George Dockrell as the run-rate spiked.

A sequence of 15 consecutive singles saw England to three figures before Morgan deposited Dockrell for six into the on-side to break the trend.

Half-centuries followed for both batsmen, Morgan’s from 52 balls and Trott’s from 78.