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In the absence of an injured Temba Bavuma, South Africa suffered their second ODI defeat to Ireland in the game's history. In the heat of Abu Dhabi, South African players struggled in the field. After restricting Ireland's score to 284/9, their top-order disappointed and was bowled out for 215 as Jason Smith's 91-run knock went in vain. South Africa won the series 2-1 but lost the 3rd ODI by 69 runs.
This is also Ireland’s first ODI victory over South Africa away from home. Their first ODI win came in Dublin in July 2021. The two nations have played 11 ODIs against each other so far. South Africa have won eight whereas one ended in no result.
Stirling’s solid knock
Earlier, Ireland skipper Paul Stirling won the toss and opted to bat first at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Openers Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie shared a 101-run partnership. Stirling reached his 30th ODI fifty from 60 balls. Lizaad Williams ended the stand between the two with Balbirnie's wicket. He scored 45 runs from 73 balls including four fours and a six. Curtis Campher did not take much time to settle and dealt in boundaries. Ottneil Baartman knocked him over in the 33rd over. Campher scored 34 runs from 36 balls including four fours and a six. In the next over, he got the wicket of Stirling too. The skipper missed his century. He departed after scoring 88 runs from 92 balls. His knock featured eight fours and three sixes.
Cameos help Ireland post fighting total
The heat got the better of Baartman as he did not return to bowl the last two overs of his quota. Lorcan Tucker got off to a good start but lost his wicket to Andile Phehlukwayo. Tucker scored 26 runs from 28 balls. In his next over, Phehlukwao dismissed George Dockrell for a single-digit score. Harry Tector's catch was dropped in the 46th over. During the last few overs, batting coach Jean-Paul Duminy came to the field as players experienced fatigue. He held on to one end in the slog overs. In Ngidi's last over, another catch of Tector was dropped. He made it count and reached his fifty from 42 balls. In the penultimate over, Lizaad Williams struck thrice to send Mark Adair, Fionn Hand and Graham Hume back to the pavillion. In the final over, Tector got run out. His 48-ball 68 helped Ireland post 284/9.
Proteas top-order collapses
South Africa top-order crumbled under the lights. Adair dismissed Ryan Rickelton in the first over. Reeza Hendricks edged one to second slip fielder and lost his wicket to Hume. In the next over, stand-in skipper Rassie van der Dussen got out lbw to Adair. South Africa were 10/3 in the fifth over. Kyle Verreynne and Tristan Stubbs tried to stabilise the run chase. In the 13th over Craig Young trapped Verreynne in front of the wickets. Smith took his time to settle. Young claimed another wicket in the form of Stubbs who scored 20 runs from 45 balls. Just when the partnership between Phehlukwao and Smith was building, Hand ended it. Phehlukwayo scored 23 runs from 28 balls.
Smith, the lone warrior
Smith lacked support from the other end. He reached his fifty from 63 balls in the 35th over. Matthew Humphreys knocked over Bjorn Fortuin. He scored 11 runs from 19 balls. Smith kept the run chase alive but Young returned to dismiss Williams for a single-digit score. Ngidi tried to not throw away his wicket. As the required run rate went up, Smith's fight ended in 45th over. Hume got his wicket with a fuller delivery. He hit nine fours and four sixes in his 93-ball 91. In his next over, Hume dismissed Ngidi to bowl out South Africa for 215 with 23 balls left in the innings.
