A tremendous all-round display has sealed a 3-0 T20 series sweep for South Africa against Ireland.
An authoritative performance with the bat was topped off with a solid bowling effort, en route to a decisive victory in Belfast.
TEMBA BAVUMA SCORES MAIDEN T20I HALF-CENTURY
After batting first and posting a tall score, there was pressure on the Irish batsmen right from the get-go. Kevin O’Brien was dismissed cheaply for the third time in as many games, leaving Ireland one down early. From that point on, South Africa were regularly among the wickets. None of the Irish batsmen were able to settle and bat through, and the Proteas kept their progress in check. Andrew Balbirnie’s wicket brought about a middle-order free-fall.
In the end, it was too high a mountain to climb for Ireland, and the Proteas bounced back from a rather ignominious start to win the remainder of the games in this tour. There were plenty of positives to take from this performance, starting from Bavuma’s noteworthy knock to quality bowling from all the options available. George Linde and Wiaan Mulder were the picks of the bowlers, taking 2 wickets apiece at an economy rate of 5.
South Africa won the match by 49 runs.
Ireland 140/9 in 20 overs (Balbirnie 27 – Mulder 2-0-10-2, Linde 4-0-21-2)
