By Razeen Gutta
The Proteas kicked off their one-day international series against Ireland with a win in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
After drawing the T20 series, South Africa bounced back with a dominant performance that saw them bundle the Irish out for just 132 in the 272-run chase.
Paul Stirling’s troops had the opportunity to dismiss the Proteas for a far less respectable total as they picked up three quick wickets in the powerplay.
Man of the match Ryan Rickelton steadied the ship with a composed 91 off 102 deliveries, though, helping South Africa to 271/9 in their 50 overs.
In response, there would be a quick collapse, with Lizaad Williams starring in the 31-over bowl out.
The right-armer picked up 4/32 as Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin got two wickets each to seal the 139-run victory.
With the captaincy back on his shoulders for the one-day format, Temba Bavuma was impressed by his side’s start to the series.
“It is a good start to the series, top innings by Rickelton and Stubbs (79 off 86) and then with the tail wagging in. We thought the seamers did really well. Top effort from them,” he said post-match.
“We tried to play what is in front of us and we got guys who can do a bit of both (swing and seam), so quite a nice variety from those three (the pace trio of Ngidi, Williams and Baartman) and it was just a matter of keeping up the pressure and challenging them.”
The second match takes place from 13:30 on Friday, live on SuperSport.
Pictured above: Proteas
Source: @proteasmencsa
