Duckett struggled for fluency initially however moved beautifully by means of the gears and introduced up his hundred off 72 balls, reaching 107 not out in England’s 280 for 4 off simply 31 overs earlier than rain intervened.
The downpour was transient however a deluge saturated the outfield, the place a number of puddles shaped nearly instantly, whereas the bottom employees struggled to get the covers on promptly, hindered additionally by wind.
Barely half an hour after the gamers got here off at 2.48pm, arms have been being shaken between the edges on the dressing room balconies at 3.21pm, as an abandonment meant England received the Metro Bank sequence 1-0.
Salt’s pyrotechnics, containing seven fours and 4 sixes, plus 39 off 21 balls from Will Jacks helped England set new benchmarks for the quickest a workforce has reached 50 and 100 when batting first in an ODI.
After an England facet with only one change from the 48-run win at Trent Bridge on Saturday – Luke Wood in for George Scrimshaw – have been requested to bat, Salt set the tone with 18 runs off the primary 4 balls.
Salt carved, punched then pulled Mark Adair for 3 successive fours earlier than heaving into the stands past midwicket, with England’s 19 probably the most they’ve accrued within the opening over of an ODI.
Jacks twice pulled over the leg-side for sixes as England acquired to 50 in 3.3 overs, with left-arm seamer Josh Little particularly costly. His opening spell was 3-0-46-0, whereas he completed with 5-0-69-0.
Salt moved to fifty off simply 22 balls with a fearsome pull for six off Little, however Craig Young, who took three for 31 from seven overs, restored a way of stability, extricating a little bit of seam and motion off the floor.
Salt chipped to a backpedalling mid-on, whereas Jacks was bowled by means of the gate.
Zak Crawley, who has taken cost of this second-string facet with England’s World Cup stars resting, was joined by his vice-captain Duckett.
The Test openers introduced the hosts down the gears, pleased to consolidate on their fast begin, steadily accumulating and hammering the odd boundary.
Crawley was significantly authoritative down the bottom, lofting handsomely for a few sixes, his first in ODIs, as he amassed 51 off 42 balls earlier than slicing Ireland debutant Theo van Woerkom to quick third.
Duckett had moved unobtrusively to a 46-ball fifty, step by step discovering the center of the bat and capitalising when Ireland’s bowlers erred in line.
The left-hander was proficient off his pads and hip and cashed in when the vacationers turned to the spin of Van Woerkom and George Dockrell at each ends.
Duckett introduced out his favoured sweep, taking Van Woerkom the space whereas the sluggish left-armer conceded 4 successive fours in his subsequent over.
A tough sweep was adopted by a hat-trick of expertly positioned cuts in entrance of sq. as Duckett began to motor alongside.
He hoisted Dockrell handsomely over vast long-off to deliver up a 72-ball hundred – his second fifty utilizing up simply 26 deliveries – however situations have been rising more and more gloomy and as Sam Hain started to trudge off after being dismissed for 17 by Young, rain began to fall.
Play was not initially halted, however the bathe grew heavier and the bottom employees belatedly made their approach on to the sector, solely to wrestle getting the sheets down as they battled torrential rain and blustery wind.
There might be scrutiny at how swift the abandonment was introduced, in addition to the knowledge of scheduling worldwide matches in late September following a second rain-affected end result within the sequence, following one other controversial washout at Headingley final week.
