South Africa tour of Ireland 2021 News

South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has advocated the relaxation in Covid-19 related norms for cricketers by comparing the life inside biosecure bubbles to the life “caged circus animals” whose whole purpose of living is to “entertain the crowds”. Shamsi wrote his frustration on Twitter while quoting an ESPNcricinfo’s tweet that quoted the ECB’s CEO Tom Harrison’s defence of relaxed biosecure bubbles in order to maintain the mental well being of players. Shami said that staying under isolation for an extended period of time affect their life outside and cricket and families at large. Notably, Shamsi went on the tour of the West Indies with the South Africa side and has travelled straight to Ireland from the Carribean. Teams have adopted the biosecure bubble approach after the ECB showed them the way by hosting West Indies and Pakistan at the height of the pandemic last year in the UK. ECB has not barred cricketers from leaving the team hotel for their homes and instead has asked all the players and support staff to stay away from the places where the risks of contracting the virus are higher. The issue of mental health has been highlighted by several big players such as Virat Kohli as players have been travelling to parts of the world in a secure environment in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Simi Singh struck a hundred, his maiden hundred in international cricket and it became the highest score by number eight batsman in the history of ODI cricket. In fact, the Ireland batsman became the first-ever player to score a hundred batting at number eight. However, that could not stop South Africa from registering an emphatic 70 run win in the third ODI to level the three-match series 1-1 after the first game was washed out by rain. Ireland didn’t have an ideal start to their chase and to be honest, Singh and his partner Curtis Campher were the saving grace of a sorry looking scorecard. The hosts lost the top six wickets at the score of 92 with last match heroes skipper Andrew Balbarnie, Gorge Dockrell and Harry Tector back in the hut. Singh then joined Capmher and the two added 104 for the seventh wicket in just 107 balls. Post the Capmher wicket, the 34-year-old Punjab born started teeing off. In fact, he scored his last 46 runs off just 30 balls. He added 47 for the last wicket with Craig Young, but in the end, it was too much to ask for from the tailenders as Anrich Nortrje removed Young to bowl Ireland out for 276. For the Proteas, Andile Phehlukwayo and Tabraiz Shamsi picked up three wickets each. Earlier in the day, having won the toss South Africa decided to bat first and made good use of the opportunity as both openers Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan hit centuries and added 225 for the first wicket. Malan remained unbeaten at his career-best 177 to guide the Proteas to 346 in their 50 overs. Malan was adjudged Man of the Match for his efforts. Having drawn the ODI series, the two sides would now take on each other in the T20Is with the first of the three games being played at the same venue of The Village, Dublin, as the three ODIs.

South Africa pacerLizaad Williams struck with his maiden delivery in ODI cricket as he got the wicket of Andy McBrine in the third and final ODI of the three-match series between hosts Ireland and the Proteas being played at The Village in Dublin. Introduced in the eighth over into the attack by skipper Temba Bavuma, Williams got McBrine to knick the delivery which went into wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s gloves pretty easily. With this wicket, he also became the third South African in ODIs after Martin van Jaarsveld and Mond Zondeki to achieve this rare feat. Overall, he is the eighth South African and 69th bowler in the world to get a wicket off the very first ball of his career in either of the three formats i.e. Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Williams was given an opportunity to play his first ODI after Kagiso Rabada was rested for the game. The 27-year-old Cape Province born had previously played four T20Is, picking seven wickets in them. As far as the game is concerned, chasing a huge target of 347, Ireland have been reduced to 144-6 in the 30th over and a victory looks like an unlikely scenario for them now.

It was an endearing watch for South African cricket fans, at least for those who would have been able to watch in the ongoing mob loot and clashes in the country, as two openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock scored brilliant hundreds to propel the visitors to a huge total of 347 against hosts Ireland. Under the pump after losing the second game of the three-match series with the first match being washed out, the Proteas showed great resolve as they mounted 225 for the first wicket with both openers reaching their respective hundreds. In fact, on his way top hundred, de Kock became only the second South African wicketkeeper after Mark Boucher and only the seventh in the world to reach 10,000 international runs across all formats. Not only that, de Kock als0 became the youngest and quickest wicket-keeper batsman to reach the 10,000 run landmark in international cricket. The 28-year-old batter recorded his 16th century as a wicketkeeper opener to join Australian great Adam Gilchrist at the top of that list. He is now the fifth quickest overall and second quick among Proteas after Hashim Amla to score 16 centuries. He achieved the feat in his 124th innings while Amla did it in only 94 innings. As far as Malan is concerned, playing only his seventh ODI, the 25-year-old struck his second hundred. His score of unbeaten 177 is also the fourth-highest individual score in an ODI by any South Africa batter, the best being 188 not out by Gary Kirsten in 1996. His partnership of 225 with fellow opener de Kock is also the second-highest opening stand for South Africa in ODIs and fell short by just 10 runs off the highest partnership recorded by Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs against India in 2000. No other batter apart from these two was able to leave as imp[ressive a mark in this game. The Irish team led by Andrew Balbirnie would look to go all ou tin chase of this total and at the time writing this, they were 27-2 after seven overs.

The Irish team is aiming at something that could be a thing of beauty in their cricketing history, winning a series against a team of the stature of South Africa. When they take the field in The Village, Dublin on Friday, the Irish captain Andrew Balbirnie wants to make sure that the players are up and ready for the momentous occasion. “You have to look at Friday, we could potentially win a series. We haven’t won a home ODI against a top-eight team so that’s another thing to tick off the list, but I think the guys are eager and hungry to win a series,” he was quoted as saying in the Ireland cricket’s website. The occasion, after providing Ireland with a big series win against a top eight ODI nation, but would also give the Irish men an opportunity to lift themselves to the third position on the Cricket World Cup Super League standings. But the 30-year-old skipper believes that it is more than all of it, it is rather about making strides in the right direction and showing the world that limited resources cannot stop them from achieving the big goals. “We don't have the players these teams have, we don't have the infrastructure or the exposure. A lot of the South African team have played in the IPL. We don't get that,” said Balbarnie. “We are thrilled and beating them once off is great but winning a series at the end of the week will be so important because it shows we're making strides," he added.

Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has hailed his team’s efforts after the win against South Africa in the second ODI in Dublin on Tuesday. Balbirnie who notched up a ton said that the Ireland side has defeated big guns in the past but he would want them to do this consistently. "We've beaten big teams before but we haven't beaten them consistently. We don't have the players these teams have, we don't have the infrastructure or the exposure. A lot of the South African team have played in the IPL. We don't get that," ESPNcricinfo quoted Balbirnie as saying. "So what we do, when we do play these big teams, we get the most of out of these games and we try to put in our best performance. We are thrilled and beating them once off is great but winning a series at the end of the week will be so important, because it shows we're making strides," he added. Balbirnie’s ton helped the hosts post 290/5 in 50 overs on the board and later bundled out the Proteas for 247 to win the match by 43 runs, courtesy some fine piece of bowling from the home side. Apart from the skipper, Harry Tector scored a half-century while Dockrell’s late surge played a vital role in helping Ireland to a good total. The first match between the two sides was called-off due to rain and Ireland now lead the three-match series 1-0 with the final encounter to take place on Friday at the same venue.