Ben Duckett's dashing unbeaten fifty took England to within sight of a first-innings lead over Ireland on the opening day of their Ashes warm-up Test at Lord's on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England were 152-1 in reply to Ireland's 172 all out, a deficit of 30 runs, at stumps in a Test being played over four days rather than the standard five.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Duckett, a left hander in his first Test innings in England, was 60 not out after a sunny afternoon at the 'Home of Cricket'.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Together with Zak Crawley (56), he shared an opening stand of 109. Crawley's fifty came from a mere 39 balls and including 10 fours. At the close, Ollie Pope was 29 not out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier, England veteran Stuart Broad took his first five-wicket haul in a Test at Lord's for 10 years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Broad's early treble strike reduced Ireland to 19-3 and included ducks for both Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ireland, in just their seventh Test and still searching for a first win at this level, were indebted to Paul Stirling for launching a recovery with a quickfire 30. Obdurate opener James McCollum top-scored with 36.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Broad finished with 5-51 from 17 overs and left-arm spinner Jack Leach took 3-35 from 14, although debutant fast bowler Josh Tongue went wicketless.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ireland struggled to contain England, with fast bowler Josh Little, a star of the T20 Indian Premier League, rested ahead of their upcoming 50-over World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The visitors almost missed the one chance England gave them on Thursday, with debutant paceman Fionn Hand clinging on at the second attempt to hold a caught and bowled chance from Crawley's checked drive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After several inside edges had narrowly missed the stumps, Crawley could have few complaints.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England captain Ben Stokes opted to bowl in overcast conditions that promised to aid a three-man pace attack missing England great James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, both rested ahead of this month's first Test against Australia at Edgbaston.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Test novices Ireland were 15-0 when Broad had Peter Moor, fresh from a hundred in a warm-up match against Essex, plumb lbw for 10.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Balbirnie, the only man to appear in all of Ireland's seven Tests, then fell for a five-ball duck when he edged Broad low to Crawley at second slip.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Two balls later Ireland were 19-3 when Tector clipped Broad off his pads straight to Matthew Potts at leg slip.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The next delivery saw Stirling given out lbw.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the Ireland veteran successfully reviewed Australian umpire Paul Wilson's decision, avoiding a duck.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Stirling counter-attacked before an innings featuring 20 runs in boundaries ended when he top-edged a sweep off Leach and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, playing his first Test since August last year after a freak leg injury on a golf course, held a simple catch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
McCollum's contrasting 108 ball-knock finished after lunch when he edged Broad to Joe Root at first slip.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Broad had his 20th five-wicket haul in 162 Tests when he bowled Mark Adair with an inswinger. It was also the first time he had achieved the feat at Lord's since his 7-44 against New Zealand in 2013.<\/p>\r\n\r\n