Ireland on Tuesday created history by defeating mighty South Africa for the first time after the hosts pulled off a 43-run victory in the second One Day International match of the series.
Batting first in Dublin at The Village cricket ground, Ireland amassed a total of 290-5 in 50 overs. Andrew Balbirnie played the skipper’s knock to score 102 runs 117 balls with his knock including two sixes and 11 fours.
Harry Tector played a knock of 68-ball 79 runs with George Dockrell making a quickfire 45 runs that he needed just 23 balls to score.
In response, South Africans were all out for 247 runs in 48.3 overs. Janneman Malan was the top scorer for the visitors with a knock of 84 runs. Rassie van der Dussen made 49 as other batsmen failing to score against Irish bowlers.
Mark Adair, Andy McBrine and Joshua Little picked up two wickets each for Ireland.
Reacting to his side’s historic win, Balbirnie said, “We’re thrilled and delighted to beat South Africa – it shows we are improving and making strides.” He added, “Over the last two games we’ve shown our quality with the bat. We’ve been put in both times and batted really well.
“We’ve beaten big teams before but haven’t consistently beat them and that’s why winning a series is so important.
“We don’t have the players or infrastructure these teams have so that’s why it’s vital we put in a great performance when we play them.”
