Rain ruins England efforts

The hard work of the England Under-19s bowlers went to waste after a heavy downpour flooded the pitch at Grace Road and caused the abandonment of their run chase. Set 95 to win by Ireland Under-19s, England had reached 22 for the loss of one wicket off 4.1 overs, before the rain set in.

Having put Ireland in to bat, England's bowlers set about their task by suffocating the Ireland batting. No bowler conceded three runs an over, with Adam Ball, Aneesh Kapil and Tom Knight each picking up two wickets. Ryan Hunter top-scored with 25 but once he was the third wicket to fall in the 19th over, Ireland lost their remaining seven wickets for 44 in 20.3 overs.

The amount of water that fell was so great that the second match of the series on Friday has been moved from Grace Road to Loughborough.