Ireland escaped the likely embarrassment of conceding a record score in Bristol yesterday when a sharp shower around 3pm forced the abandonment of their final one-day international against England.

Skipper Paul Stirling had won the toss and asked the home side to bat, only to see opener Phil Salt race to a half-century from 22 balls and Ben Duckett power to an unbeaten 107 as the England second-string posted 280-4 after 31 overs.

There have only been two totals in excess of 450 in 50 overs internationals, and if England’s best of 498-4 against the Netherlands in Amstelveen last year may have remained elusive, Ireland would surely have ended the day in the top three.

As it is, the 411-4 smashed by South Africa at Canberra in the 2015 World Cup remains the most expensive day in the field for the Boys in Green.

“It feels like a loss even though it wasn’t even half a game,” Stirling said. “We had a difficult start and it just kept spiralling from there, and we couldn’t get any control.”

When the first three balls of the innings crossed the boundary and the fourth cleared it, the visitors must have guessed they were in for a few hours of punishment, and so it proved as England charged to 100 in eight overs, the fastest by any side in ODIs.

Mark Adair’s first two overs disappeared for 31, Josh Little was equally as expensive but amid the mayhem Craig Young produced a tidy five-over spell for 18 and had Salt caught at mid-on for 61 from 28 balls before bowling fellow opener Will Jacks.

Theo van Woerkom, a New Zealand-born left-arm spinner who plays club cricket in Belfast, marked his debut with the wicket of England skipper Zak Crawley for 51, but there was no stopping Duckett who reached a century from 72 balls.

Young took another wicket with the final delivery of the 31st over to finish with a very credible 3-31 from seven, and that was the last of the action as the heavens mercifully called a halt to the beating.

“They were on for a very big score so maybe the rain came at the right time for us,” Stirling added, knowing perfectly well it did. 

“We’ve got a bit of time off now and we’ll use that to reflect on this series and where we go as a side.

“We’ve always had talent and produced world-class players in Ireland but we haven’t quite managed to turn that into a team with this group. That’s got to be our main focus looking forward to the next World Cup in four years.”