Published: Mar 03, 2015, 04:21 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2015, 07:33 PM (IST)
South Africa finally started to show their true colours in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 as they thrashed an in-from Ireland by a huge of 201-run margin in the Pool B fixture at Canberra. The Associates have done remarkably well so far in this tournament. So expectations were high from Ireland, the best associate nation by a long distance and one of the three unbeaten sides (before this game) of this tournament. But the match eventually turned out to be one of the very few one-sided encounters of this World Cup, involving an Associate. This win was also South Africa’s second consecutive win with a margin of 200 or more runs. Also with this win South Africa maintained their No. 2 position of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Pool B points table. Full Scorecard: South Africa vs Ireland
Chasing 412 to win, Ireland were all out for only 210 — their worst batting performance in this World Cup so far. It was an all-round show by South Africa as the outplayed Ireland in every deportment. William Porterfield’s boys were never in the game and they were completely outclassed. From losing the toss to drop catches on field, nothing went their way since the start of the game. On a dry wicket, Ireland included three spinners. So they were desperate to bat first on this track, but unfortunately that did not happen. After calling the right side of the coin be Villiers did not hesitate at all to bat first and from there it was all about South Africa. Live Blog: South Africa vs Ireland
Though Ireland had a decent start of the match when they managed to get rid of a struggling Quinton de Kock, whose poor run with bat in this World Cup continued on Tuesday as well. In the initially overs Ireland medium pacers, especially John Mooney bowled in good channels. He used the slowness of the wicket and did not allow the South African batsmen to dominate. In the first 10 overs the Protease scored only 57 runs runs. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
But after getting familiar with the wicket, both batsmen, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis started to play their shots. Though Amla was lucky to stay the wicket as he was dropped by Ed Joyce at the shot mid-wicket. The South African run machine used that chance with full effect as he finally ended up with his highest One-Day International (ODI) score (159). He also became the the joint second highest century maker for South Africa in this format along with AB de Villiers. No. 3 batsman, Du Plessis also got his fourth ton of his career in the course of this innings. For the second wicket they shared a 247-run partnership which set the platform for South African middle order to launch the attack in the last 10 overs. Top 10 batsmen in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
After the fall of du Plessis in the 39th over, de Villiers came to wicket and stated punishing the bowlers with his own way. But for a change, the South African skippers failed today after scoring a nine ball 24. Finally David Miller and Rilee Rossouw gave them the finishing touch with an unbeaten 110 run partnership off 51 balls and helped their team to get past 400-run for the fourth time in the history of ODI cricket. For Ireland, McBrine was the most successful bowler with a figure of two for 63 in 10 overs. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Chasing down 412 was out of context for Ireland. But keeping the net run rate factor and the chances for qualifying for the last eight stage in mind, they wanted to get close to the total. But Ireland were jolted early with three quick wickets within the first five overs. Soon they were 48 for five.
Andrew Balbirnie and Kevin O’Brine put some fight from there. Both shared a 81-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Balbirnie scored a gutsy half-century but Kevin missed his by two runs. The lower order also added some valuable runs and helped Ireland to reduce the losing margin a bit.
For South Africa Steyn bowled with lot of fire and took two wickets. But Kyle Abbott was the most successful South African pacer on Tuesday. He took four for 21. Morne Morkel got three for 34. With this thumping victory South Africa now have almost booked their name in the quarter-final stage.
On the other hand, this heavy defeat jolted Ireland’s chances for qualification. Now they need to have atleast two victories in their next three games in which Porterfield’s team will clash against Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe.
Brief scores:
South Africa 411 for 4 in 50 overs (Hashim Amla 159, Faf du Plessis 107 ; Andy McBrine 2 for 63) beat Ireland 210 in 45 overs (Andy McBrine 58, Kevin O”Brien 48 ; Kyle Abbott 4 for 21, Morne Morkel 3 for 34) by 201 runs.
Man of the match: Hashim Amla
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
