IRE vs ENG second T20I Preview | England primed to continue majestic run

‌Ireland will hope for a miracle to stop a well-oiled England unit when both sides meet for the second T20I at the Malahide Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on Friday. With the duel placed 1-0 in England’s favour, the home side will have to play out of their skin to keep the series alive.

England kicked off the series with a dominant four-wicket win over their neighbours at the same venue on Wednesday. Opener Phil Salt led the visitors’ response after the insipid bowling display saw them concede 196 runs to the home side. He smashed 89 off just 46 balls, including 10 fours and four sixes, to lay the foundation of the big chase.

Salt continued his swashbuckling show from the last match against South Africa, where he scored England’s fastest T20I hundred en route to recording their highest individual score in the format. England completed a comfortable chase, courtesy of Salt’s exploits, with 14 balls to spare. But the visitors will look for an improved bowling performance after allowing Ireland to put a formidable total on the board.

Meanwhile, Ireland will have to quickly recover from the bashing they got from Salt and Co., with five of the seven bowlers tried out by captain Paul Stirling going for 11 runs or more in an over. But the hosts’ camp will be encouraged by the batting show of Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker, who scored quickfire half-centuries to take the side close to the 200-run mark. However, they will have to come good on all fronts to stop the England juggernaut from sealing the series.

Form Guide

IRE Form: NR A A L L

ENG Form: W L W A W

IRE vs ENG head-to-head in T20Is

England and Ireland are even in their head-to-head record in T20Is, with both sides winning a game each and one match ending without a result. The win in the series opener was England’s first against Ireland, with the hosts winning their last match in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne.

IRE 1 - 1 ENG

Pitch and Conditions

The surface at Malahide is expected to provide another cracking high-scorer with the flat deck and shorter boundaries assisting the batters. The pacers may get some bounce and seam movement with the new ball, but another slambang T20 game will be on offer with both captains preferring to chase down the target.

It will be a cloudy afternoon with light showers in Dublin, with temperatures expected to be around 14 degrees. However, it will get better as the evening approaches with temperatures dropping to 12 degree and chances of rain coming down from 59% to 25%.

Team News

Both teams are expected to take the field with the same eleven that played in the first T20I on Wednesday.

IRE Expected XI

Paul Stirling (c), Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Barry McCarthy, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Craig Young.

ENG Expected XI

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jaacob Bethell (c), Rehan Ahmed, Sam Curran, Tom Banton, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.

Broadcasting Platforms 

The IRE vs ENG second T20I match will be digitally streamed on the FanCode app and website in India from 6:00 PM IST on Friday. There will not be any live telecast of the same.