2024-09-29 12:42:25
Published: 08:56, 28 September 2024
South Africa started the T20 series by beating Ireland. The Proteas beat Ireland by 8 wickets in the first T20I in Abu Dhabi on Friday (September 17). The hero of their victory was opener Ryan Ryan David Rickelton. The wicket-keeper batsman scored 76 runs off just 48 balls. South Africa reached the target of 172 runs given by Ireland with 14 balls in hand.
Chasing the target, South Africa scored 136 runs in the opening pair. Reza Hendricks batted at par with Ryan David Rickelton. 51 runs came from his bat in 33 balls. 5 fours and 3 sixes arranged the fifty touching innings. These two openers returned to Sajghar with a gap of 2 runs. By then, Ryan David Rickelton’s run had crossed seventy. The left-handed hard hitter batted at a strike rate of 158 with 3 fours and 6 sixes.
The Proteas did not have to gain momentum to win from there. Matthew Britzky scored 19 and Aiden Markram remained unbeaten on 17 to secure the win for the team. Mark Adair and Craig Young took one wicket each for Ireland.
Earlier, after losing the toss and going into bat, Ireland lost the two opening batsmen for 26 runs. From there, the scoreboard was activated by the resistance of Curtis Camper and Nail Rock. Neither of them could play big innings despite getting runs. Camper scored 49 runs for the team with 6 fours and 1 six. Rock scored 37 runs off 28 balls with 4 fours and 1 six.
In the end, Ireland got 171 runs for 8 wickets in 21 runs from 16 balls in the innings. But even this run was not enough to win. Patrick Kruger was best with the ball for the Proteas. He took 4 wickets for 27 runs. The rest got 1 wicket each.
The two teams will face each other in the second T20 on Sunday (September 29) at the same ground.
Dhaka/Yasin/Vijay