They may have rode their luck at times but openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have put England in a commanding position at the end of Day One in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord's.
Batting second, England reached by the close of play on 152 for 1, trailing Ireland by 20 runs with nine wickets to spare in the 1st innings.
Crawley was the only English wicket to fall, caught and bowled by debutant Fionn Hand for 56 in the 17th over.
The wicket was a just reward for Hand, who had seen numerous edges missing the stumps and the slip cordon.
Currently, Duckett is at 60, partnered by Ollie Pope, unbeaten on 29
England had won the toss on a cloudy cool morning at the home of cricket, electing to put Ireland into bat with the visitors being bowled out for 172.
The hosts gave a debut to bowler Josh Tongue, resting the likes of Mark Wood and the legendary Jimmy Anderson ahead of the Ashes.
Ireland lost their first wicket in the fifth over when PJ Moor, the ex-Zimbabwe international who opened the innings with James McCollumn, was out LBW for 10.
Irish captain, Andy Balbirnie, who made a half century at Lord's in 2019, lasted only five deliveries before becoming Broad's second victim, caught brilliantly at second slip by Zak Crawley.
Harry Tector could only manage two balls, caught at leg slip by Potts, giving Broad his third wicket of the seventh over.
Indeed, he almost had a fourth. Paul Stirling reviewed an LBW decision and survived. He and McCollum steadied things, moving Ireland to 64 by the 22nd over.
However, the experienced Stirling, looking well-set on 30, gloved a delivery from Leach straight to the wicket keeper and Ireland were 78 for 4 at lunch.
After the break, the visitors swiftly lost three wickets as McCollum (38) fell to a rampant Broad while Lorcan Tucker was Leach’s second for a breezy 18. Andy McBrine (19) gave Potts his first wicket as Ireland were now a mere 142 for 7.
Broad took a well deserved fifth wicket in the 54th over, clean bowling Mark Adair on 14.
England mopped up the Irish tail with Curtis Campher bowled by Leach for 33, with Fionn Hand falling on 1 as Ireland were 172 all out by the 57th over.
Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan was left disappointed with their showing after a poor batting display was followed by Crawley crunching 56 off 45 balls while Duckett finished on 60 not out alongside Ollie Pope, unbeaten on 29, after they tucked into some wayward bowling by the tourists.
"Obviously not our best day, to be honest, I think it's a little bit more disappointment around the way we went about our business," Malan said.
"I didn't necessarily think that they played, you know, Bazball, if you want to term it that way, because I just think we didn't bowl that well.
"They batted pretty well, with us bowling pretty averagely. So look, I hope we can bowl a little bit better tomorrow."
Play resumes tomorrow at 11am.
With additional reporting: PA
