England Lions v Ireland: Lions beat visitors in warm-up match

Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie elected to bat first at the Ageas Bowl

An England Lions XII defeated Ireland by seven wickets in Sunday's 50-over warm-up match in Southampton.

Captain Andrew Balbirnie hit a high score of 60 as Ireland set a mark of 296 all out after 49.4 overs.

A strong batting performance by the Lions, which included a century by Phil Salt, James Vince's 66 and a cameo 22 from England captain Eoin Morgan, allowed the hosts to cruise to victory.

Ireland face England in three one-day internationals from 30 July.

Balbirnie elected to bat first and Gareth Delaney was the first to fall on 10 before opener Paul Stirling departed on 52 after being caught by Liam Dawson.

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Things were looking promising for the visitors before Balbirnie exited at the hands of Liam Livingstone, and Porterfield was caught by Henry Brookes with Ireland standing firm at 210-4.

Harry Tector hit a solid 55 but Kevin O'Brien, Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Lorcan Tucker and Andrew McBrine were dismissed in the space of eight overs as Ireland's stand ended with three balls remaining.

Adair, who was a doubt for the ODIs after ankle surgery, dismissed Jason Roy on the first ball of the Lions innings, but the combination of Salt and Vince, which hammered 141 runs in just 14 overs, piled the pressure on Ireland's bowlers.

The duo retired out, as did ex-Ireland batsman Morgan who hit 22 from 20 balls, before Sam Billings steered the Lions home to victory with 15.2 overs to spare despite Singh and Adair taking the wickets of Laurie Evans and Livingstone late on.