Lunch Ireland 78 for 4 (McCollum 29*, Broad 3-21) vs England
With new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling in tandem with Matthew Potts after Ben Stokes had won the toss and taken the predictable but wise decision to send Ireland in under overcast skies.
Potts produced a probing line, beating the outside edge a number of times in his first two overs, but it was Broad who broke through with the second ball of his third, a fuller one which pitched a fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.
Zak Crawley pulled off an excellent dive low to his left from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip for no score.
Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.
McCollum was safe on an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad as it passed. McCollum then had to duck under a 91mph bolt. Both deliveries were bookended by a pull which Ben Duckett did well to save from going for four as he ran round from long leg and a lovely checked drive which pierced the covers and did find the boundary to take Ireland past the paltry 38 they managed when they were bundled out in their last appearance at this ground, as England overcame 85 all out in the first innings to win by 143 runs in 2019.
At the interval, McCollum had faced 93 deliveries for his knock whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Jack Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Jonny Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket because of a freak leg fracture suffered while playing golf.
Stokes had said at the toss that he was looking forward to seeing what Tongue could offer and his figures of 6-3-18-0 at the first meal break of his debut Test offered food for thought.
