CricketEurope reports:

Rashid claims 5 wicket haul as England beat Ireland by 7 wickets

Ireland's historic first ODI on English soil ended in disappointment for the visitors this afternoon as they fell to a 7-wicket defeat at the hands of a strong home side at a blustery Bristol. The "full house" signs were up, complete with a healthy sprinkling of those dressed in green however a disappointing performance with the bat and an excellent spell of bowling from Adil Rashid was to bring an early end to the day's entertainment.

It had all started so promisingly for William Porterfield as he opted to bat first on a decent deck; openers Ed Joyce and Paul Stirling ticking along nicely at 40-0 in the 6th over before the latter was bowled by Chris Wood for a typically aggressive 20. Joyce fell soon after, trapped leg before by David Willey for 23, before a 35-run stand between Andy Balbirnie and William Porterfield led a recovery of sorts.

With the score on 81 Balbirnie edged one behind to Sam Billings off the bowling of Jake Ball and was out for 30 and it was 90-4 soon after as Porterfield holed out to Liam Plunkett off Joe Root. The Ireland skipper struggled to get going if truth be told and once he was dismissed, Rashid took charge of the contest. The Yorkshire leg-spinner fairly ran through the middle and lower order as the Irish batsmen struggled to pick his variations with the googly proving particularly effective; only Niall O'Brien (16) and Tim Murtagh (11) getting into double figures after that as the innings closed on 126 with 17 overs left unused.

Rashid finished with impressive figures of 5-27 from his 8 overs while Root added 2-9 from 5 but Ireland will admit they batted poorly. To be fair to the bowlers they started brightly as England began their reply with Peter Chase picking up the wicket of Jason Roy in the first over courtesy of a superb George Dockrell catch.

In the very next over Tim Murtagh put down a difficult return chance to get rid of Alex Hales as well before he had got off the mark, and the same player got another life on 10 when Niall O'Brien missed a good chance behind the stumps. Hales rode his luck in style, going on to hit 10 fours in his 55 in a 78-run partnership with Root before an excellent Porterfield steepling catch gave Chase his second wicket.

And the visitors, nor indeed Chase were finished there, the Leinster Lightning bowler tempting England skipper Eoin Morgan into a mis-timed hook which was gleefully snapped up on the boundary by former International team-mate Kevin O'Brien. Unfortunately for Ireland it was only ever going to be about respectability at that point and so it proved as Root (49*) and Johnny Bairstow (10*) saw the hosts home with plenty to spare.

The short series moves on to the grand setting of Lords on Sunday where Porterfield's men will be hoping they can take it up a level with the bat on what will be another huge occasion for Irish cricket.

CricketEurope