Stuart Broad took the 20th five-wicket haul of his Test career as England dismissed Ireland for 172 on the opening day of their Ashes warm-up Test at Lord’s on Thursday.
Ireland were in dire straits at 19-3 after losing the loss, with Broad’s early treble strike including ducks for both Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector
England great Broad finished with 5-51 from 17 overs and left-arm spinner Jack Leach took 3-35 from 14 as skipper Ben Stokes, battling knee trouble, didn’t bowl at all.
Ireland did at least mount a recovery, opener James McCollum top-scoring with an obdurate 36, while Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling both reached 30.
Stokes opted to bowl in overcast conditions that promised to aid his three-man pace attack.
Test novices Ireland had few alarms in reaching 15-0 before Broad had Peter Moor plumb lbw for 10 as he aimed legside, the batsman not bothering with a review.
Number three Balbirnie, the only Irishman to appear in all seven of his country’s Tests, then fell for a five-ball duck when he edged Broad low to Zak Crawley at second slip.
Two balls later Ireland’s 19-2 became 19-3 when Tector clipped Broad off his pads straight to Matthew Potts at leg slip.
The next delivery saw Stirling given out lbw.
But the Ireland veteran successfully reviewed Australian umpire Paul Wilson’s decision, avoiding a duck.
A Test scheduled for four days, rather than the standard five, was threatening to go the way of the corresponding Lord’s clash four years ago.
Back then, England slumped to 85 all out only to win by the huge margin of 143 runs after they skittled out Ireland for just 38.
But Stirling counter-attacked after England debutant fast bowler Josh Tongue launched his Test career with two maidens.
An innings featuring 20 runs in boundaries ended when Stirling top-edged a sweep off Leach to give a simple catch to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, playing his first Test since August last year after a freak leg injury on a golf course.
In increasingly sunny conditions, opener McCollum’s determined innings of 36 off 108 balls ended after lunch when he edged Broad to Joe Root at first slip.
Campher, hit on the helmet by Tongue, could only watch as Andy McBrine became Potts’s first wicket of the day when caught behind after the paceman went around the wicket.
The 36-year-old Broad had his 20th five-wicket haul in 162 Tests when he bowled Mark Adair before Campher, with just the tail for company, was bowled charging at Leach for 33.
England had rested both Anderson and fellow quick Ollie Robinson to ensure the pair were fully fit for the start of the Ashes series against Australia later this month.
This match also came just weeks before Ireland travel to Zimbabwe for a 50-over World Cup qualifying tournament, with Balbirnie saying in the build-up: “If we get bowled out for 30 in both innings against England but qualify for both (50 and T20) World Cups, that’s a win; that’s our most successful summer ever.”
Lineups:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts.
Ireland: James McCollum, PJ Moor, Andy Balbirnie (captain), Harry Tector, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume.
