Twin tons lift Ireland to famous win over England

Ireland have stunned world champions England in the third ODI in Southampton, chasing down a target of 329 with just one ball remaining.

Centuries from opener Paul Stirling (142 from 128 balls) and skipper Andy Balbirnie (113 from 112) powered Ireland towards victory, the pair sharing a 214-run partnership to bring the target within reach.

But the departure of both century-makers saw Ireland's innings stall before Harry Tector (29no) and Kevin O’Brien (21no) steered them home in a tense finish at The Rose Bowl.

The pair needed eight to win off the final over and, from the third delivery, Saqib Mahmood bowled a waist-high full toss that resulted in a no ball and a free hit, paving the way for the Ireland win.

It was one of a handful of costly wides and no balls that England bowled in the final overs, while they also dropped Stirling on 95 and 139 and put down Tector on 19.

England are without a host of big names on Test duty, including ODI regulars Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, but victory over last year's World Cup winners is nonetheless a huge achievement for the Irish side.

It's just their second ever ODI win over England, the first famously coming at the 2011 World Cup in Bangalore, where they also posted 329 in a famous run chase.

O'Brien, who scored a memorable century on that night nine years ago, fittingly scored the winning runs here.

Earlier, Eoin Morgan slammed a 78-ball century against the country of his birth, finishing with 106 from just 84 balls as he and Tom Banton (58 from 51) and David Willey (51 from 42) powered England to a monster total.

The left-hander had come to the crease at 3-44 after an early collapse from the home side.

The skipper didn't take to the field in the second innings due to tightness in his groin, with his deputy Moeen Ali leading the side in his absence.

"Full credit to Ireland, they've outplayed us today," Morgan said.

"We had an average day, stuttered throughout, we rebuilt from three down and then stuttered again, got to in-and-around a par score.

"But Ireland played well, and we have to thank them for coming over."

England had won the opening two matches of the series, but with ICC ODI Super League points on offer for the first time, there was still plenty to play for in the final game of the campaign.

"We're delighted with how that finished," Balbirnie said.

"We didn't perform with the bat at all in the first two ODIs, so to come back in the field and then chase a total like that against a good side was great.

"We thought we could chase it but we had to bat well. We faded a bit in the field but managed to take regular wickets and 320-330, we knew we were in the game.

"(The Super League) is going to be a scrap for us, we have to be competitive in all our games.

"We're grateful for the opportunity to come here, to the ECB for putting it on, and to come away with 10 points.

"We've got two weeks back home in quarantine and we have to get through that and back to training, but we're grateful and hopefully there'll be many more fixtures ahead."

England's first Test against Pakistan begins in Manchester tonight (AEST), the summer schedule tightly cramped after the start was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.