England won the toss and decided to bat first on a green Lord’s pitch, but Jason Roy’s test debut did not last long, and he was caught behind off Tim Murtagh in the third over. Joe Denly came to the crease to join Rory Burns, and he played positively for his 23 until he was lbw to Mark Adair. Almost immediately Ireland enjoyed further success when Burns was caught at slip by Gary Wilson, with Murtagh again the bowler.
And then England reduced England to 42 – 4 when captain Joe Root was lbw to Adair. The embarrassment for the home side was then increased as Bairstow was lbw to Murtagh in the next over with no addition to the score. Two balls later it got worse for England with Murtagh taking his fourth wicket, Chris Woakes out lbw for a duck. And then Moeen Ali was out for a duck. England had lost 6 wickets for the addition of just seven runs.
Sam Curran and Stuart Broad added 15, but Broad was then caught by Wilson off Boyd Rankin, who then accounted for Curran, caught by James McCollum for 18. The last wicket pair of Olly Stone and Jack Leach then put on 18 for the final wicket, before Stone was bowled by Adair for 19. England had been bowled out for 85 before lunch. Murtagh took 5 for 13, whilst Adair claimed 3 for 32, whilst Rankin finished with 2 for 5.
In response William Porterfield and McCollum put on 32 for the first Irish wicket, before Porterfield pulled a long hop from Curran straight to Leach at mid-wicket. And then Curran struck again to bowl McCollum for 19.
However, Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling showed all the other batsmen how it should be done, and shared a stand of 87 for the third wicket until Stirling was lbw to Broad for 36.
Then Ireland suffered a mini-collapse of their own. First Balbirnie, who had made 55 including 10 fours, was bowled by Stone, and, four balls later, Wilson edged the same bowler to Root at slip. Stuart Thompson was then bowled by Root, and Adair by Curran who claimed his third wicket of the innings. However, Kevin O’Brien and Andy McBrine put on 25 for the eighth wicket until McBrine was lbw to Broad for 11. Murtagh hit 4 fours before he was caught by Burns off Stone for 16, and then Rankin was the last man out, bowled by Moeen Ali. O’Brien was undefeated as Ireland were bowled out for 207, a lead of 122 on first innings. Broad, Stone and Curran all finished with three wickets each.
There was just time for one maiden over to be bowled in England’s second innings before stumps was finally reached on a day that saw 20 wickets fall.
England enjoyed a much better session on the morning of the second day, despite losing Burns early, caught behind off Rankin. However, Leach playing as a night watchman, showed the other English batsmen how to perform, reaching his half-century before lunch, and he was joined by Roy, who looked much more at home second time round, and brought up the fastest debut 50 by an Englishman. Together, they helped wipe out the first innings deficit.
The pair then added a further 49 after lunch until Roy missed a straight delivery from Stuart Thompson and was bowled for 72. Leach had passed and exceeded his previous best first class score but, having had several lives, he finally fell for 92, caught by Adair at second slip off Murtagh.
Then England’s batting order had another subsidence. First Joe Denly was needlessly run out by Kevin O’Brien for 10, before Bairstow was lbw to Adair for a duck. They were followed back to the pavilion by Moeen Ali, caught behind off a short ball from Rankin for 9. And then Root, who had looked to solidify the innings, was out to a poor shot for 31, giving a thick outside edge to Adair before he was caught behind the stumps by Wilson. Woakes then fell to another poor shot, flashing at a wide delivery from Adair before being caught by Balbirnie at second slip.
However, Curran and Broad counter-attacked and put on 45 for the ninth wicket until Curran, who had hit two sixes, was caught by McCollum, Thompson the bowler. Bad weather then brought an early end to proceedings, with England 303 – 9 at the end of the second day, a lead of 181. Broad was 21 not out.
After a short rain delay on Friday morning, play resumed and immediately Ireland got the one wicket they needed, Thompson bowling Olly Stone for a duck. England had been bowled out for 303, meaning Ireland needed 182 for their maiden test victory.
However, their dreams of making history were soon dashed.
In their second innings, Ireland lost Porterfield early, caught by Bairstow off Woakes. And then England struck again when Balbirnie edged Broad to Root at slip. One over later, Stirling was out to Woakes for a second ball duck. Things quickly got worse for the Irish. James McCollum had made 11 but he then edged Woakes to Root at first slip, with Wilson lbw to the same bowler two balls later. Suddenly Ireland had slipped to 24 – 5. O’Brien came out to bat but he did not last long, lbw to Broad a few minutes later.
Adair tried to counter-attack and hit Broad for six, but the bowler almost immediately got his revenge, bowling him to reduce Ireland to 32 – 7. Woakes then took his fifth wicket, tempting Thompson into a drive and he was caught by Root at slip, who also provided the catch that got rid of McBrine off the bowling of Broad. Last man Murtagh was then bowled by Woakes as Ireland were bowled out for just 38 inside 16 overs to seal a remarkable victory for the home side.
Woakes finished with 6 for 17, whilst broad took 4 for 19, as England used just the two bowlers.