PJ Moor, James McCollum score centuries in ten-wicket Ireland win – T20 IPL 2024

Ireland 232 for 0 (Moor 118*, McCollum 100*) and 419 beat Essex 343 and 307 for 8 dec (Adair 85, Buttleman 65, Hume 3-50) by ten wickets

Ireland openers PJ Moor and James McCollum produced an unbroken double-century stand to steer their side to a ten-wicket win on day three of their tour match against Essex.

Both batters scored hundreds – McCollum bringing up three figures with a six that also sealed victory – as the tourists completed their warm-up ahead of the Lord’s Test with a confidence-boosting performance, chasing down a target of 232 in just 42.4 overs. In the process, Moor and McCollum set a new Irish record for the first wicket in first-class cricket.

There were also runs for Mark Adair, playing as a member of the Essex XI, as the seam-bowling allrounder crashed 85 from just 66 balls. Adair and Essex wicketkeeper Will Buttleman, who also scored a rapid half-century, put on a century stand to lift the hosts from 113 for 5, following early strikes Graham Hume and Thomas Mayes.

Buttleman and Noah Thaine cracked a further 68 in 6.5 overs to set a declaration during the afternoon, leaving Ireland 50 overs in which to get the runs.

Moor and McCollum started the Ireland second innings in placid conditions against Adair and Jamal Richards, the 19-year-old on debut who had taken a five-for earlier in the match.

McCollum was among the three Ireland top-order batters to make single-figures in the first innings, and was more watchful the second time around. The pair bedded in until tea, at which point they needed 184 in 37 overs, before Moor began to open up, the former Zimbabwe batter hitting 12 fours and five sixes in total.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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