Duckett departs as England run riot against Ireland

LONDON: Ireland finally saw the back of Ben Duckett but not before the opener had made 182 as England piled on the runs in their Ashes warm-up Test at Lord´s on Friday. Together with Ollie Pope, who made a hundred of his own, Duckett added 252 runs in 43 overs to take England to 361-2 -- a lead of 189 runs. Duckett´s innings in his first Test on home soil was more than Ireland´s combined 172 during Thursday´s first day of four.

The 28-year-old left-hander was in sight of what would have been one of Test cricket´s fastest double-centuries when a replacement ball did the trick for Ireland, with Duckett playing onto medium-pacer Graham Hume. His runs had come off just 178-balls, including 24 fours and a six, with Duckett walking off to a standing ovation from a sun-drenched crowd at the ´Home of Cricket´. England started Friday just 20 runs behind, after Stuart Broad had taken 5-51 on Thursday -- the veteran paceman´s 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Duckett resumed on 60 not out, with Pope unbeaten on 29 after the pair had come together at 109-1 following Zak Crawley´s exit for 56.

It wasn´t long before England overhauled Ireland´s total, with Duckett´s straight-driven four off Hume taking the hosts into the lead. Duckett went into the 90s with an extra-cover driven four off Mark Adair and reached his second hundred in 10 Tests with a single through midwicket off debutant Fionn Hand. Three balls later Pope completed a 64-ball fifty.An Ireland side in just their seventh Test and still searching for a first win at this level, lacked the pace and guile to consistently trouble two well-set batsmen on a good pitch. Duckett upped his already quick tempo to complete a run-a-ball 150 and at lunch he was 161 not out, after scoring over 100 runs alone in the morning session, with England 325-1.

Pope was eyeing a century on 97 not out and, after a couple of nervy moments on 99, he completed his fourth hundred in 36 Tests with a single off Andy McBrine.

England won the toss:

Ireland 1st Innings: 172

England 1st Innings

Zak c & b Hand 56

Duckett b Hume 182

Pope st Tucker b McBrine 205

Root b McBrine 56

Brook not out 9

Extras: (b 7, lb 5, nb 1, w 3) 16

Total:82.4 Ov 524/4d

Did not bat: Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow †, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts

Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-361, 3-507, 4-524

Bowling: Adair 20-2-127-0, Hume 17-0-85-1, Hand 19-2-113-1, Campher 13-0-88-0, McBrine 13.4-0-99-2

Ireland 2nd Innings

Moor lbw b Tongue 11

McCollum retired hurt 12

Balbirnie (c)c †Bairstow b Tongue 2

Tector not out 8

Stirling not out 14

Extras: 0

Total:13.4 Ov 47/2

Did not bat: Lorcan Tucker †, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-18, 2-25

Bowling: Broad 3-1-6-0, Potts 6-1-28-0, Tongue 4-1-13-2, Leach 0.4-0-0-0

Umpires: Adrian Holdstock, Paul Wilson