Salt's 89 seals England's first T20 win over Ireland at Malahide

Phil Salt struck 89 off 46 balls as England chased down 197 to beat Ireland by four wickets in the first of three T20 internationals at Malahide on Friday, giving England their first T20 victory over Ireland.

England reached 197 for 6 in 17.4 overs, completing the target with 20 balls to spare. Ireland had posted 196 for 3 in their 20 overs, led by unbeaten half-centuries from Harry Tector (61 not out off 36) and Lorcan Tucker (55 off 36).

Salt, playing his first match since an unbeaten 141 against South Africa last week, smashed England's innings into motion and narrowly missed a second successive century when he was caught by Ross Adair off Graham Hume with the final delivery of the 15th over. Jos Buttler made 28 off 10 balls before skying to Curtis Campher off Matthew Humphreys, and Sam Curran was among the wickets taken by Hume in a late Ireland fightback, but Jamie Overton struck the winning runs.

The match marked the first time 21-year-old Jacob Bethell captained an English side in international cricket. Bethell won the toss and elected to bowl, and he made 24 while opening the innings before edging to extra cover. Rehan Ahmed was the bowler when Gareth Delany took the catch that gave Bethell his wicket, Delany's 100th cap for Ireland.

Ireland had posted a competitive total after a solid opening period. Paul Stirling and Ross Adair put on 49 for the first wicket in the powerplay, with Stirling hitting four sixes, two of which cleared the roof of the hospitality tent at the compact Malahide ground. Adair fell in the eighth over, caught by Salt attempting a sweep off Liam Dawson, and Stirling followed soon after, swiping at Adil Rashid and finding Will Jacks.

Tector and Tucker rebuilt the innings with a mix of boundaries and rotating the strike. Tector reached his half-century with a drive that also brought up his milestone of 1,500 T20 runs for Ireland. The pair ran largely singles and doubles in the later overs, and Tector was unbeaten at 61 when he edged the penultimate delivery into Buttler's gloves.

Ireland's bowling attack was without Mark Adair and Josh Little, and the visitors opened the bowling to left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys in an attempt to contain Salt. Humphreys and Barry McCarthy were unable to stem Salt's onslaught in the powerplay, as England raced to 84 for 1 at the end of the first six overs.

Despite the loss of Buttler and the mid-innings dismissals of Bethell and Rehan Ahmed's earlier contribution, England maintained control of the chase. Hume's double-strike in the 15th over removed Curran and Salt, but by then England required only a modest number of runs. Overton hit the boundary that sealed the victory, leaving England 1-0 up in the three-match series.

The match came five days after Ireland's record-breaking 304 for 2 against South Africa in Manchester, underlining the hosts' recent strong T20 form. England, who were missing several of their all-format regulars for this series, will return to Malahide for the second T20 on Friday and the third on Sunday.