Stats: England tumble to 85 against Ireland in a mad-rush opening day at the Lord’s

Ten days after lifting the World Cup at the Lord’s, England faced embarrassment at the same venue at the hands of Ireland. Tim Murtagh, the Middlesex player, utilized his experience of playing at the Lord’s to the core. The seamer ended up becoming the first player to claim a 5-wicket haul in Test cricket for Ireland as the hosts bundled out for just 85.

The visitors were going well till Tea break as they scored 127 for the loss of two wickets. England bowlers bounced back in the final session to keep Ireland down to 207. England played out the only over they had to face before the stumps on day two with Jack Leach going in as the night-watchman but are still 122 runs behind.

All the major stats and numbers that were recorded during an eventful first day at the Lord’s:

England’s shortest innings:

23.4 – England were bundled out in only 23.4 overs; their shortest completed Test innings at home. They were bowled out for 89 in 30 overs in the 1995 Birmingham Test against the Windies. This is also the 5th shortest Test innings for England and their 2nd shortest in the opening innings. They were restricted to 58 in 20.4 overs by New Zealand in the 2018 Auckland Test.

23.4 – England’s innings of 23.4 is also the 2nd shortest completed innings for a home team in the opening innings of a Test after winning the toss. India were bowled out for 76 in 20 overs against South Africa in the 2008 Ahmedabad Test.

The cheapest 5-fer:

13 – Runs Tim Murtagh conceded during his 5-wicket haul; cheapest Test match 5-fer for a visiting bowler in England. Australia’s Dennis Lillee took 5/15 during England’s first innings of the 1975 Birmingham Test.

Overall, Murtagh’s 5-fer is the 3rd cheapest by any bowler in England as Arthur Gilligan took 6/7 against South Africa in 1924 and 5/11 by Ian Botham against Australia in 1981; both in Birmingham only.

13 – The 13 runs that Murtagh conceded for his 5-wicket haul in the first innings are the 2nd fewest by any bowler for a 5-fer in Test cricket against England. Jerome Taylor had figures of 5/11 in the 2009 Kingston Test against the English team.

Murtagh runs through the hosts:

37y 356d – At the age of 37 years and 356 days, Tim Murtagh became the 11th oldest player to claim his 5-wicket haul in Test cricket. He is the oldest to do so since 1993 and the only player to claim his maiden Test 5-fer after turning 36 in the 21st century.

A rare Test in more than six decades:

1951 – The last instance of 3rd innings of a Test match taking place on the opening day of the game was way back in December 1951 when Windies and Australia faced off at the Adelaide Oval. The Lord’s Test is only the 7th such Test and the 12th with as many as 20 wickets falling on the opening day of a Test.

The middle muddle:

2 – Runs aggregated by England’s No.4 to No.7 batsmen in the first innings; the joint 3rd fewest by No.4-7 batters in a Test inning. New Zealand’s No.4-No.7 bagged ducks in their 1st innings in the 1954 Johannesburg Test against South Africa and only one run in the first innings of the last year’s Dubai Test against Pakistan.

Australia against South Africa in their 4th innings of the 2014 Port Elizabeth Test and England in the opening innings of the 2018 Auckland Test against the Blackcaps had only two runs aggregated by the players batting between No.4 and No.7.

A poor beginning for the hosts:

43/7 – England scored only 43 runs at the loss of their 7th wicket; the fewest runs by England in a Test innings at home. England were seven down for 26 in the 1888 Test against Australia also at Lord’s.

Roy’s long awaited debut and Rankin’s rare double:

9 – Boyd Rankin became the 9th player to represent England and also play against them in Test cricket. Rankin made his Test debut for England in the 2013/14 Ashes. Overall, Rankin is the 14th player to have played for and against a team.

3381 – Runs Jason Roy has scored in the ODI format thus far; the 2nd most ODI runs by any player at the point of making Test debut. William Porterfield amassed 3692 ODI runs before he made his Test debut in Ireland’s inaugural Test against Pakistan last year.

A first without Cook for England:

2005 – This was the first in 90 home Test matches since the start of 2006 for England without Sir Alastair Cook in the playing XI. Last time England played a home Test without Cook was in September 2005 part of the Ashes series. The former England captain and opener featured in all 89 Test matches that England played at home between 2006 and 2018.