A commanding display has earned the junior Proteas their second win in the group stage, as they thoroughly bested Ireland by 157 runs. Incidentally, they have successfully booked a spot in the quarterfinals.

Despite an early double-strike for Ireland, South Africa looked to be a in stable position, as Dewald Brevis maintained his indomitable form and produced yet another masterclass.

Brevis enjoyed playing spin and impressed with his cuts and sweeps, but the wicket of Gerhardus Maree kept the South Africans’ progress in check. However, that was just the lull before the storm, as George van Heerden put together a tremendous captain’s innings.

Initially, van Heerden may have started off more cautiously, but periodically stepped out to the spinners to play the much-needed big shots.

Both batters looked ominous and were effortlessly taking the game away from the Irish bowlers, but it was an anticlimax for Brevis, who sliced one to gully on 96. He missed out on a potentially well-deserved century, but van Heerden was just beginning to cut loose.

Andile Simelane came out swinging with a priceless cameo of 25 from 13, but van Heerden eventually joined the fun when he carted Liam Doherty for three consecutive sixes and a boundary to bring up an imperious century. An 18-ball 43 from Michael Copeland ensured that SA would cross the 300 threshold and post an insurmountable score at halftime.

A 108-run stand between Brevis and van Heerden, followed by a flurry of lusty blows from Simelane and Copeland drove the Proteas to 315.

After a spirited effort with the bat, the momentum continued to shift rapidly towards SA as Matthew Boast sent back three of Ireland’s top 4 batters within the first 7 overs.

Nathan McGuire entertained with a punchy 42 from 33, but his knock was cut short when he edged an attempted cover drive to slip off Simelane. From there onwards, wickets continued to tumble, while all the bowlers pitched in with inroads.

Matthew Humphreys provided some resistance down the order with 38 from 30, but at the end of the day it was too little too late. Liam Alder wrapped up the innings with another two wickets, rounding off his game with superb figures of 3/20.

After the early loss to India, South Africa have superbly rebounded and played an attacking style of cricket to make it to the playoffs. Stay tuned for the quarterfinal games next week!

SA 315/7 in 50 overs (van Heerden 111, Brevis 96 – Wilson 9-0-59-2)
Ireland 158 in 33 overs (McGuire 42, Humphreys 38 – Alder 5-0-20-3, Boast 7-1-26-3)