Improved Irish make it a match

Some 1,500 people made the journey from Ireland to Lord’s for yesterday’s one-day international against England, and most of them would have come with alternative plans in case of an early finish.

They shut the bars and put up the half-price signs on the catering stalls four hours early at Bristol on Friday, as Ireland slumped to a humiliating seven-wicket defeat in the first ODI at County Ground.

Sunday’s game at Lord’s was another defeat for Ireland, their 11th in a row against a top-eight side since the 2015 World Cup, but how the mood music around the Ireland camp has changed in that 48 hours.