England’s final match of the summer against Ireland ABANDONED due to rain after heavy downpour, with massive puddles forming on the outfield at Bristol after hosts had threatened to post huge score

• Ben Duckett hit an unbeaten century in England’s final game of the summer
• Zak Crawley and Phil Salt also blasted half-centuries for the hosts
• The game was abandoned after 31 overs following a torrential downpour 

England’s final game of the summer was brought to a premature end after heavy rain caused their one-day international against Ireland at Bristol to be abandoned.

The hosts were put into bat after losing the toss and were on course to post a huge total, having reached 280-4 after 31 overs with Ben Duckett hitting an unbeaten century.

However, rain then arrived and the umpires called off the game less than 30 minutes after the torrential downpour began.

Dark clouds began to form around the ground shortly before the rain came, but the groundstaff had trouble getting the covers on due to the strong wind.

This left the pitch saturated, with large puddles forming in several areas across the outfield. 

Heavy rain forced England’s final game of the summer to be abandoned on Tuesday

The groundstaff tried to get the covers onto the pitch quickly, but strong winds made it difficult

England had looked set to post a huge score after Ben Duckett hit his maiden ODI hundred

The umpires did go out to the middle without umbrellas during a brief period of dry weather, but once the rain restarted they were left with little option but to call an end to proceedings. 

The abandonment means only one game of the three-match series has been completed, with England beating Ireland by 48 runs at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

The first game was also abandoned, this time without a single ball being bowled, in farcical scenes at Headingley last week.

Rain during the morning and early afternoon caused the toss to be delayed, but once it relented at around 2:30pm it appeared there was a decent chance of play getting underway.

However, the umpires were not happy with the bowler’s run-up at one end, and after multiple pitch inspections decided to call the game off shortly before 5:30pm. 

The weather has frustrated both sides over the past week, but England can still take plenty of positives after naming a second-string outfit during the series as their senior stars prepare to head off to India for next month’s World Cup.

Duckett made his first ODI hundred on Tuesday, finishing on 107 not out off 78 balls, while an early onslaught from Phil Salt and Will Jacks suggested they could be England’s opening white-ball pair in the coming years.

Salt hit 18 off the first four balls of the innings on his way to 61 off just 28 balls, while Jacks was not far behind as he scored 39 off 21 balls before being bowled by Craig Young.

Stand-in captain Zak Crawley also looked in good touch as he raced to 51 off 42 balls before departing.

England may have had one eye on their own world record score of 498-4 that they achieved against the Netherlands last year, but the weather ensured they did not get the chance to chase that total down. 

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