Mohammedan Sporting dismiss talks of closure, says will not play in I-League Div 2

Hampshire, Jul 31: David Willey's maiden five-wicket haul guided England to a six-wicket victory over Ireland in the first ODI here on Friday.

With this win, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing a small target of 173 runs, England got off to a bad start as opener Jonny Bairstow was given LBW in the third over, bowled by Andy McBrine. Jason Roy was then joined by James Vince and the duo added 22 runs on the board before the former was dismissed.

Craig Young then got hold of Vince, who was caught behind after scoring 25 runs. Sam Billings and Tom Banton then took the charge of the chase but the latter too was caught behind which ended his 11-run innings.

Banton's dismissal brought skipper Eoin Morgan on the field. Billings and Morgan played stunning innings and kept scoring boundaries. Morgan struck a scintillating six on the last bowl of the 28th over to take England over the line. Morgan scored 36 runs while Billings played a knock of 67 runs.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Ireland witnessed a poor start as Paul Stirling was dismissed in the very first over of the innings, bowled by Willey. Andy Balbirnie then joined Gareth Delany but Willey struck again in his next over, removing Balbirnie.

Delany then played furiously and smashed three consecutive boundaries to Saqib Mahmood in the fourth over. However, the fall of wickets did not stop as England took three wickets in quick succession. Mahmood bowled Harry Tector while Delany and Lorcan Tucker were sent back to the pavilion by Willey.

Kevin O'Brien and Curtis Campher then took the charge and played cautiously, taking their struggling side over the 50-run mark. Adil Rashid got hold of O'Brien (22) in the 22nd over before Simranjit Singh was run out in the same over.

Andy McBrine was the next batsman and he played brilliantly along with Campher, who went on to complete his half-century. Both formed a 66-run partnership before McBrine (40) was dismissed by Tom Curran.

Campher remained unbeaten on 59 but failed to find a partner as England bundled out Ireland on 172 runs.

The second ODI between both teams will be played on Saturday.

New Delhi, Aug 5: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Bollywood celebrities have taken it to their social media platforms to express their excitement and shared their thoughts.

Taking to Twitter handle, senior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher extended his best wishes to his legion of followers for the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan.

While 'Masti' actor Riteish Deshmukh, on the micro-blogging site tweeted multiple hashtag 'Jai Shree Ram' to mark the historic day.

'Queen' actor, Kangana Ranaut's official Twitter handle team wrote: "What could not happen in 500 years happened this year.... this is not picture of the day but the moment of many centuries #JaiShreeRam #RamMandirAyodhya"

Actor Kirron Kher, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Ashok Pandit and others also marked the day and expressed their excitement.

Earlier, evergreen star Hema Malini, through an audio recording congratulated the devotees of Lord Ram on the occasion.

The Mathura MP expressed her excitement on the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the much-awaited Ram Temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the special Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

He also released a commemorative postage stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya.