Ireland vs England, 2nd T20I at Dublin, IRE vs ENG, Sep 19 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
3:55pm Right then, sorry about that everyone. Let's hope Sunday brings us something worthwhile. Until then, good bye!
Match abandoned! Finally, the fork has been stuck in this one.
3:47pm Some news... though it doesn't quite pertain to this match. England are releasing Scott Currie to play in Saturday's One-Day Cup Final for Hampshire against Worcestershire at Trent Bridge.
Ed: "Word from our man Roller is we should know "in the next 20 to 30 minutes" if this is called off. Sadly this was obvious at 9am this morning, hence my earlier comment.Should get a game on Sunday though, but bring two sweaters!" I'll make sure to check that Matt has packed accordingly, thank you Ed!
3:14pm Word from our man Roller is we should know "in the next 20 to 30 minutes" if this is called off. "Some action on the covers... but feels deeply optimistic," he adds.
3.00pm Smiffy: "I live near Trent Bridge and its the one day cup final tomorrow. Perfect cricket weather today, hosing it down on Saturday and Sunday. I feel your pain, Ireland." That's annoying as I'm heading to Nottingham tomorrow for the match! Cheers for the warning, Smiffy... No real updates to note from Malahide, and in this case no news is bad news.
2.16pm "Getting heavier," says Roller of the rain. Eeeek. The stands have started thinning out, too. "It's a matter of when..."
2.01pm John: "You've got to feel for Ireland. They get few enough games as it is so to lose so many of those to rain is a real shame. Still, pretty silly place to put your country if you want to play cricket."
Certified Bowli: "Sunny forecast for all of next week. Sigh..."
1.48pm: DS: "I'm at the ground too. It's still a drizzle only which is at that annoying level where it's not strong enough to stop play but strong enough to keep play from starting". Typical. Afternoon everyone, by the way. A pleasure to endure this all with you x
1.35pm: "Proper rain now," reports Matt. Which is exactly what Malahide didn't need any more of. Oh, the joys of "Super September"! The official word is that there will be an umpire inspection "once it stops raining"... and on that optimistic note, I'll leave you in the company of Vish Ehantharajah
1.25pm: So, the square has been covered once again, and the umbrellas are starting to pop up in the crowd. Certainly not heavy - the pitch-side TV broadcast is currently unaffected - but not good signs for the impending inspection. Looks as if the groundstaff are battening down the hatches for an impending deluge...
high-scoring games are good to watch, a good game all round. They probably got a few too many at the end but credit to them. Then, you know what Jos and Salty are like. The wicket was good and it was a great game
nice to see the ground, the dimensions, a short boundary that side, take it allin. the corwd are quite close to you, which is nice. Good fun. We've played a bit of golf, get to experience things we haven't before. Ireland is great, been great fun.
1.15pm: "England kicking a football around," says Matt. "It's started to spit but seems like we've missed the worst of the first band." We have 90 minutes of added time to play with, should conditions be deemed fit
On which subject, the host broadcaster has interviewed the two standing umpires for today, Aidan Seaver and Jonathan Kennedy. The latter says that are "a couple of soft areas in the outfield, as long as the weather doesn't deteriorate we're hopeful of getting a game in of some description." It will take the groundstaff "30-40 minutes" to get the pitch ready, once the umpires are happy
But having said all that, I think I can see the covers being dragged back into place...
1pm: While we wait for news - positive or otherwise - why not tuck into Matt's piece on the case for England continuing with Jos Buttler at opener, after his belligerent displays alongside Phil Salt in Malahide and Manchester over the last week. And ICYMI, Matt was busy in the build-up to this series, chatting to rugby union convert Ross Adair about his belated ascent to playing cricket for his country
12.45pm: The teams have now arrived at Malahide Village, but the toss is officially delayed. Which was sort of inevitable, given the umpires aren't due to inspect for another 45 minutes. "It's not currently raining but dry might be overselling it," says Matt, before settling on the mot juste: "Squelchy."
Badhat has opted for humour as a coping mechanism: "It's like summer in London... any chance we can helicopter the teams over to Lord's or The Oval?" That might be beyond the CI budget
And Ed isn't optimistic: "Stirling will have more frustration, I can't see the rain stopping for even a 5-over slog today"
12.25pm: Matt has arrived at the ground, where there seems to be plenty of activity and most of the covers either removed or lying crumpled on the outfield. "Not currently raining but not looking good," he says. "1.30pm inspection I'm told." That would, of course, mean a delay to the toss. This game was sold out - as is Sunday's third T20I - so it would be a shame if the weather kiboshes it completely
11.50am: Hello, hello, and welcome to our coverage of the second T20I from Malahide. England pulled off their first-ever T20 victory over Ireland (yes, you have read that right) on Wednesday, and will be hoping to seal the series today... However, they might need the weather gods to do them a solid first. There has been heavy rain overnight, and although the clear-up operation is underway, more is forecast to sweep in around toss time. Matt Roller, our man in Dublin, reports that England are still at their hotel, with an inspection of the ground imminent - so stay tuned. Andrew Miller's seaweed, meanwhile, paints a bleak picture of the afternoon in prospect
