Ireland defeated South Africa by 10 runs in the second IRE vs SA T20I at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 29 (Sunday) to level the two-match series 1-1. This is not the first time Ireland have stunned South Africa, before the T20I series, Ireland defeated the Proteas 2-1 in the three-match ODI series to claim their first series victory over South Africa. And now, this T20I win comes as their first over South Africa in this format.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl first. Batting first, Ireland got off to a solid start as both the openers, Ross Adair and skipper Paul Stirling, joined hands to put together a partnership of 137 runs. Stirling was the first to lose his wicket as he got out after making a half-century (52) whereas Adair kept going.
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Ross Adair's Hundred Sets Up The Game For Ireland
Ireland kept losing wickets on the other end but Adair made sure that Ireland finished around a 200-run total. He eventually got his maiden T20I century off just 58 balls, becoming just the third Irish men’s player to hit a T20I century after Stirling and Kevin O’Brien. Ireland finished with 195-6 in 20 overs, marking their highest T20I score against South Africa and 10th highest of all-time in T20Is.
Chasing 196 in 20 overs, South Africa too got off to a good start as openers Ryan Rickelton and Ryan Rickelton compiled a 50-run partnership before the former fell for the score of 36. Hendricks and new batter Matthew Breetzke looked set to take the chase deep as they both scored runs as per the asking rate but Hendricks fell for 51.
Breetzke continued his innings but received no support from other South Africa batters and finally lost his wicket, rendering South Africa 176-6. South Africa’s tail couldn’t contribute much either with the team finishing on 185-9 in 20 overs, losing the game by 10 runs.