Match Details
Arya- It was the Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie who won the toss and opted to bowl. It was some good bowling by the Irish new ball bowlers as they beat the outside edge on several occasions. Quinton de Kock had a torrid time but Reeza Hendricks managed to get quite a few boundaries away in the powerplay as South Africa was off to 38 in the first five overs. Quinton de Kock was eventually dismissed on 7 after struggling big time.
Hendricks also failed to time the ball as the ball stopped on the surface and the Irish bowlers were all over South Africa. The middle overs were exceptional for Ireland as they squeezed the South African run flow from the 5th over till the 10th over. The spinners were quite magnificent, Gareth Delany in particular. McBrine also bowled brilliantly till his 3rd over but was taken to the cleaners in his final over by Aiden Markram as he was smoked for 26 runs which provided the much-needed momentum to South Africa.
Delany again tilted the scales in Ireland’s favour as he bagged the wicket of Reeza Hendricks and Makram in the same over which reduced the Proteas to 87/4 at the end of the 13th over. From there on, it was all South Africa until the final over. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen took the Irish bowling apart as the runs started to flow for South Africa.
None of the bowlers were spared as Klaasen raced off to 39 of just 15 deliveries before his dismissal. Miller remained unbeaten on 34 of 20 deliveries as South Africa managed to score 182 in their 20 overs. Joshua Little was quite brilliant in the final over, conceding just 4 runs. Delany was the pick of the Irish bowlers finishing with figures of 2/24 in his 4 overs spell.
Arya- Ireland never really got going right from the word go. It was early wickets for Wayne Parnell as Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker were dismissed in back-to-back deliveries which set the tone for the Proteas. Paul Stirling took the attack to the South African bowlers and struck some lusty blows to get them going. However, he was unsettled after a blow lower to his stomach and was eventually dismissed the very next ball.
Gareth Delany was dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi in his very first over as Ireland was reduced to 40/4 in the 7th over. Harry Tector and Curtis Campher kept Ireland in the game with a good partnership. They managed to find the boundaries and Ireland was still in with a chance if they managed to slog hard in the final overs. However, the South African bowlers had other ideas as wickets kept falling in clusters after a 46 runs partnership and Ireland fell away like a pack of cards.
Barry McCarthy had some fun towards the end as he smashed a four and a six in the 16th over to give the Irish fans something to cheer. He went on to score 32 of 19 deliveries and shared a stand of 42 runs for the final wicket with Joshua Little to provide some sort of semblance to the Irish total. Wayne Parnell was exceptional with the ball for South Africa and finished with figures of 5/30 in his four overs spell.