England Take On Ireland In ODI At Southampton To Mark Limited Over Cricket's Resumption Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Defending world champions England, will also be playing first ODI at home after their maiden World Cup triumph at home in the last edition of the flagship event held in 2019. England have an overwhelming win record over their British Isles neighbours, winning 8 out of the 9 ODIs with Ireland's only win coming way back in 2011.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 26: Andy Balbirnie of Ireland cuts the ball as Sam Billings of England Lions looks on during the Warm Up match between England Lions and Ireland at the Ageas Bowl on July 26, 2020 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images for ECB)

After the successful culmination of the 3-match Test series between England and West Indies which marked the return of both Test and international cricket amid the Covid-19 era, limited overs cricket will also resume for the first time amidst the pandemic as England take on Ireland in a 3-match ODI series starting today. The first of the 3 ODIs will be played at the Aegeas Oval at Southampton, which will also serves as the venue for the remaining 2 matches. It would be a special day for England captain Eoin Morgan who previously represented Ireland in ODIs and has, in fact, also scored a hundred for them. Defending world champions England, will also be playing first ODI at home after their maiden World Cup triumph at home in the last edition of the flagship event held in 2019. England have only played 2 completed ODIs since the World Cup -- a 1-1 draw against South Africa in a 3-match series in February. England have an overwhelming win record over their British Isles neighbours, winning 8 out of the 9 ODIs with Ireland's only win coming way back in 2011. England will have a new look to their ODI side with the limited overs specialists in skipper Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairtstow making a return to the team. However, the hosts shall miss out on the services of their white ball stalwarts Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Jofra Archer who will be busy preparing for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan. Ireland will be captained by Andy Balbirnie. The visitors squad included some of their white ball cricket mainstays like Kevin O'Brien, Paul Stirling and William Porterfield. The series will also mark the start of Cricket World Cup Super League, which will serve as a platform to qualify for 2023 World Cup in India. The competition will feature 13 teams - 12 ICC Full Members and the Netherlands - who qualified by winning the World Cricket Super League 2015-17. Squads: England: Eoin Morgan (C), Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, James Vince, Joe Denly, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Tom Banton and Reece Topley Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, Kevin O'Brien, Simi Singh, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker, Andy McBrine, Joshua Little, Boyd Rankin, Barry McCarthy and Craig Young.