Trott and Bell make Ireland toil as England reach 327

BANGALORE: Jonathan Trott made 92 out of England’s commanding 327 for eight against Ireland in the World Cup Wednesday as he equalled the record for the fastest 1,000 runs in one-day internationals.

He drew level with West Indies great Vivian Richards and England team-mate Kevin Pietersen in taking just 21 innings to reach the landmark.

Trott shared a third wicket stand of 167 with Warwickshire team-mate Ian Bell (81) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

But they both fell within sight of a hundred to medium-pacer John Mooney, with Bell well caught by Paul Stirling at midwicket and Trott bowled off-stump to end a run-a-ball knock featuring nine fours.

“It’s nice to get some more time in the middle. We targeted at the start of the game to get some good runs on the board and carry on the form we’ve had with the bat and it was nice to do it again today,” Bell said.

On batting with Trott, he said: “We’ve played with Warwickshire for a long time together as well so we know each other’s games inside out. It’s nice to put on another partnership today.”

Mooney led the attack with four for 63 from nine overs while veteran Australia-born seamer Trent Johnston became the first Ireland bowler to take 50 ODI wickets when he dismissed Michael Yardy as the associates rallied late on.

But they will have to break the record for the most runs batting second to win a World Cup match of 313-7 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe at New Plymouth in 1992 if they are to defeat England.

Trott and Bell came together after openers Andrew Strauss (34) and Pietersen (59) both gave their wickets away when well-set.

The 29-year-old South Africa-born Trott, who made his ODI debut against Ireland in Belfast in 2009, needed 64 runs to match Richards and Pietersen and reached the landmark with two off left-arm spinner George Dockrell.

Earlier, England captain Strauss, celebrating his 34th birthday, won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on the ground where on Sunday he had made a career-best 158 in a thrilling tie with India that yielded a colossal 676 runs.

But there was no repeat when he played on to Dockrell trying to manufacture a pull.

Pietersen looked in superb form but fell tamely when a reverse-sweep against off-spinner Stirling looped gently to wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien.

Bell was almost out for nine when a mix-up with Trott gave Ireland a run-out chance that saw bowler Mooney fail to gather a relayed Niall O’Brien throw.