Skipper Temba Bavuma reflects on South Africa’s win over Ireland in 1st ODI

Abu Dhabi [UAE], October 3 (ANI): South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma reflected on his side’s win over Ireland in the first ODI match and said that it was a ‘good start’ for them in the three-match series.

South Africa clinched a massive 139-run victory over Ireland in the first ODI match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday. Following the win, South Africa took a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Bavuma praised Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs’ performance and called it a ‘top’ innings. The Proteas skipper praised the South African pacers and said that they performed well in the match.

“It is a good start to the series, top innings by Rickelton and Stubbs and then with tail wagging in. We thought the seamers did really well. Top effort from them. He (speaking about Tony de Zorzi) is going for scans tomorrow. 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,” Bavuma said after the match.

Recapping the match, after winning the toss, South Africa decided to bat against Ireland on Wednesday.

Proteas wicketkeeper-batter Rickelton (91 runs from 102 balls, 7 fours and 3 sixes) gave his side a fiery start in the first inning. Tristan Stubbs (79 runs from 86 balls, 2 fours and 4 sixes) also displayed a stunning performance in the first inning and helped South Africa to give a 272-run target.

At the end of the first inning, Lungi Ngidi (20* runs from 17 balls, 1 four and 1 six) and Ottneil Baartman (3* runs from 3 balls) were unbeaten on the crease to propel South Africa to 271/9.

Mark Adair led the Irish bowling attack after he picked up four wickets in his 10-over spell.

During the run chase, the Irish batting lineup was sloppy and no one could cross the 30-run mark.

The Proteas bowlers were on fire in the second inning and successful in restricting Ireland to 132 by the end of the 32nd over.

George Dockrell (21 runs from 32 balls, 2 fours), Curtis Campher (20 runs from 36 balls, 2 fours and 1 six), and Andrew Balbirnie (20 runs from 28 balls, 2 fours and 1 six) were the only top performers for Ireland while batting.

Lizaad Williams led the South Africa bowling attack and helped his side clinch a massive 139-run victory in the first ODI.