Ireland aim to finish ODI series on a high

Overview

England v Ireland, 3rd ODI
Ageas Bowl, Southampton
Tuesday, 4 August, 2 pm local time

Ireland put up stiff resistance in the second ODI only for England to use the depth of their batting line-up to ease to a win, thus launching their ICC CWC Super League campaign with back-to-back victories. As they head into the third and final game of the series, the visitors will hope that their experienced players take a cue from 21-year-old Curtis Campher, who has been in excellent form.

Campher, who notched up scores of 59* and 68 in his first two innings in international cricket, could be in for a promotion up the batting order with Andrew Balbirnie, the skipper, hinting at the possibility of this in the build-up to the game.

William Porterfield, the former Ireland captain, could be in line for a recall given their struggles against the new ball in the first two games of the series.

Ireland's bowling, on the other hand, has been impressive. It is unlikely that the visitors will tinker with their attack given how they put England under pressure in the 213-run chase on Saturday, 1 August. After the two losses, the visitors will remain motivated for the series finale in a bid to open their account on the ICC CWC Super League points table.

England, on the other hand, might look to give Liam Livingstone, who replaced the injured Joe Denly, a spot in the XI. Tom Curran could also return to the side in place of Saqib Mahmood as England look to rotate their seam bowlers. Liam Dawson is another Englishman yet to feature in the series who may be given an opportunity to impress in the finale.

Remember the last time

In all of the last three matches the two sides have played against each other, including a one-off ODI in 2019, Ireland have batted first. While they have lost all three games, it is fair to say that they have pushed England in all three encounters.

On Saturday and in the 2019 game, England won by four wickets but were bailed out by lower-order runs on both occasions after the loss of early top-order wickets.

Ireland will thus focus on putting bigger totals on the board, and the onus will be on their batting line-up to step up and deliver.

What they said

Andrew Balbirnie, Ireland captain: "It’s tricky, for the second time in a row we haven’t given them a total to bowl against. I don’t think we’ve played the greatest shots in the world, particularly myself. I can’t really put my finger on it, whether it’s rustiness or time in the middle, but Curtis doesn’t seem to be struggling so maybe it’s worth having a chat to him over the next couple of days."

Eoin Morgan, England captain:"I was going to bat at no.4 and then we changed it. I am more than happy to give guys opportunities. It's difficult with two bubbles, obviously, Test match is a priority. We are trying to fit the best XI in the white-ball format."