Curtis Campher: The 21-year old Irish batsman played exceptionally to score a half-century on his ODI debut against England.
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During the first ODI of the ongoing Ireland’s tour of England in Southampton, Ireland batsman Curtis Campher scored a half-century on ODI debut to ensure his team doesn’t get bundled out for an embarrassing total on ODI cricket’s return after amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coming in to bat at No. 7 in only the seventh over, Campher’s first delivery was a potential hat-trick delivery for England’s David Willey. Having managed to survive the first ball, Campher got off the mark on the 10th delivery that he faced by playing an elegant drive through the off-side.
It was on the last delivery of the 10th over that Campher hit another glorious drive to register his maiden boundary at the highest level. With Kevin O’Brien (22) on the other end, Campher seemed to be playing second fiddle to the seniorman.
Once the 51-run partnership got broken in 22nd over, Campher took it upon himself to steer Ireland to a respectable total. Laying emphasis on guarding one end, the right-hand batsman witnessed Andrew McBrine score 40 (48) as the duo stitched a 66-run stand for the eighth wicket.
Curtis Campher becomes the third Irish batsman to score half-century on ODI debut
It was on the fourth delivery of the 37th over that Campher ran a single off England vice-captain Moeen Ali to complete his half-century. The calm and composed nature of the 21-year old saw him becoming only the third Irish batsman (after Andre Botha and Eoin Morgan) to cross the 50-run mark on ODI debut.
Having impressed one and all with his patience, Campher ended up scoring 59* (118) with the help of four fours as Ireland got dismissed on 172 in 44.4 overs.
Coming on the back of an unceremonious omission from England’s 2019 World Cup squad, seamer David Willey registered career-best figures of 8.4-0-30-5 in what was also his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs.
