Pure Stirling (Cricket Ireland Photos) Abu Dhabi: Ireland captain Paul Stirling led the way with 88 runs in the final match played in Abu Dhabi on Monday as his team cruised to a comfortable 69-run ODI series win against South Africa. Finished. Chasing 285 points for victory, South Africa fell back to 126/6, but only Jason Smith’s brilliant 91 points kept them in the match. However, Smith could not prevent the Irish from scoring only their second ODI win against the Proteas. Scorecard: Ireland vs South Africa, 3rd ODI”I’m relieved to get through this,” Sterling said. “We talked about just winning matches and getting the job done. We let ourselves down in the first two matches. We knew if we pushed ourselves and defended the wickets well, we could score.” I did.”Johannesburg-born Graham Hume, who played for South Africa under-19s, was the Irish bowler of choice with 3-29, while Ulster-born Craig Young finished with 3-40. South Africa won the ODI series 2-1 and the two countries shared the previous T20 series 1-1. Stirling set the tone for Ireland at 284/9 after winning the toss and deciding to bat. This was in contrast to the first two matches where Ireland chased down and failed to survive beyond 32 overs, posting 132 and 169 in response to South Africa’s big scores.On Monday, Stirling and Andy Balbirnie scored 101 for the first wicket, but Balbirnie fell to Lizard Williams for a solid 45 off 73 balls.Curtis Campher accelerated on 34 off 36 balls but was fell by Ottneil Baartman, who bowled Stirling in the next over. The captain had hit three sixes and eight fours in his innings. Harry Tector fired Ireland ahead with a 48-ball 60, while Williams, the only South African bowler to complete 10 overs, finished with 4-56. On 3 October, South Africa’s response quickly became chaotic as Mark Adair removed Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen to replace injured captain Themba Bavuma. Leeza Hendricks defeated Graham Hume at second slip to Balbirnie.Kyle Belain, 38, and Tristan Stubbs, 20, stabilized the inning with a 49-point partnership, but the wheels slipped away again as Belain got in front of Young.At 126/6 it looked like South Africa would get away with it, but Smith confirmed that Ireland would have to wait. The 29-year-old from the Western Province was scoreless in his only ODI against Afghanistan last month but made the most of his opportunity after being drafted as Wyan Mulder returned home for personal reasons.Smith smashed 91 with 94 and 46 off 93 balls before slicing Hume to third man Adair.
Source link Read more related news on Gnews
