On Tuesday, Ireland pulled off a historic maiden ODI victory over South Africa in Dublin on Tuesday with their skipper Andrew Balbirnie leading from the front. He struck a magnificent century in his team’s 43-run memorable win against the Proteas.
Balbirnie’s seventh ODI hundred – a well-compiled knock of 102 off 117 balls – propelled Ireland to a highly competitive total of 290/5 in the first half. Balbirnie’s innings was ably supported at the other end by Harry Tector’s brilliant 79 off 68 balls and George Dockrell’s crucial 45 from 23 deliveries.
The hosts were just 127/2 at the end of the 30-over mark. However, they went on to reach a total near 300 thanks to the acceleration that Balbirnie, combined with Tector and Dockrell, provided in the second half of the innings.
That ascent also highlighted South Africa’s bowling problems as barring the in-form left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (1/42), all of their bowlers went for five or more runs per over in their spells. The likes of Kagiso Rabada (1/58), Anrich Nortje (0/64) and Andile Phehlukwayo (2/73), all three on whom Proteas depend a lot, proved expensive.
The South African batting looked just as much off their A-game as the bowling did. The visitors had Janneman Malan (84) and Rassie van der Dussen (49), adding 108 runs for the third wicket after the early departure of Aiden Markram (5) and their captain Temba Bavuma (10). But once Dussen and Malan also fell in quick succession, the match just continued to slip out of South Africa’s grasp.
Their last hope was a heroic saviour act from David Miller, but even the usually explosive left-hander couldn’t get going on the day and managed only 24 runs off his 27-ball stay. The lower-order, including Rabada, tried to use the long handle, but South Africa eventually succumbed to a painful defeat.
Much of the credit for the end outcome should go to Ireland’s bowlers, who looked more penetrative on the day than their South African counterparts. Spinners Andy McBrine (2/34), Dockrell (1/37), Simmi Singh (1/44) controlled the innings quite nicely in the middle-overs, stitching quite a few dot balls together and ultimately inducing errors out of Proteas batsmen. Either side of these tweakers, paceman Craig Young (1/34), Mark Adair (2/43) and Joshua Little (2/45), also produced the goods.
A collective performance with the bat and ball gave Ireland one of their finest wins in recent years and also ten crucial points in the ICC Super League. With the first game abandoned, Ireland have now bagged 15 points out of a series where they were expected to get none. 1-0 ahead after two games, the hosts can’t lose the three-match series now. The third and final one-dayer will be played on Friday, July 16.
