Patrick Kruger picked up a four-fer (4-27) before South Africa’s openers Ryan Rickelton (76) and Reeza Hendricks (51) put on a 136-run stand in 13 overs, effectively sealing the chase of 172. South Africa romped to a comfortable 8-wicket victory over Ireland in the first T20I in Abu Dhabi. Reeza Hendricks and Ryan Rickelton shared in South Africa’s third-highest opening stand, and highest away from home, in T20Is and reached important milestones of their own.
Reeza Hendricks scored his first fifty in 15 T20I innings and Ryan Rickelton registered a career-best 76, which was also his first international half-century. Ryan Rickleton’s career-best 76 and Hendricks’ 16th fifty powered South Africa to 178-2 in the 18th over in reply to Ireland’s 171-8. Ireland looked like it would pass 180 but lost three wickets in its last over as medium-pacer Patrick Kruger finished with a career-best 4-27 in his fifth T20I.
Pitch and Toss
It has not been a cakewalk when it comes to scoring runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The pitch has favored pacers and spinners equally and batters have struggled to get going. Even the run chases have seemed difficult with no score has been chased successfully above 170 at this venue. The weather will be partly cloudy and a minimal chance of rain during the game.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram wins the toss and chose to bowl on the conditions which are very hot and humid. Ireland skipper Paul Stirling batting first must adjust with these hot and humid conditions quickly as they face the South Africans.
Ireland makes Steady start in the Powerplay
South Africa had no qualms in opting to bowl first with dew expected to set in. Ross Adair treated Lizaad Williams with disdain in the first over clinching two fours and a six. Adair’s cameo of 18 came to an end as he holed out to long-on. Irish skipper Paul Stirling was cleaned up by Ottniel Baartman. New batter Curtis Campher hit Baartman for three fours in the fifth over while Harry Tector repeated the same feat off Lizaad Williams in the following over, as Ireland romped to 63 for 2 in the PowerPlay.
Ross Adair, not due to play this game until Lorcan Tucker was injured in training, made the first statement of intent when he hit a Lizaad Williams short ball over mid-on for the first boundary of the innings. He went on to take another 10 runs off Williams’ first over on the tour, after he missed out on the ODIs against Afghanistan, and hit Wiaan Mulder over his head for four before South Africa struck back.
With Ross Adair’s strength down the ground, Aiden Markram placed Tristan Stubbs on the long-on boundary and he was in a good position to take the catch that dismissed the batter, who tried one big shot too many.
Then it was the turn of another overlooked player from the Afghanistan matches, Ottniel Baartman, who struck with his third ball when he bowled Paul Stirling with a delivery that angled in and sailed through the bat-pad gap. But South Africa could not claim the early advantage.
Campher, playing in his 100th international for Ireland, took five balls to get his eye in and then drove Baartman through mid-off and for two more fours to get his run-scoring underway. At the end of powerplay, Ireland finished on 63 for 2, their second-best against South Africa, after scoring 67 for 2 in Bristol in 2022.
Patrick Kruger’s career best 4-27 restricts Ireland to 171 for 8 in 20 overs
In his third T20I, leg spinner Nqabayomzi Peter had to wait until the 11th over to be called on and it was a fairly tough introduction. Campher and Neil Rock were settled, South Africa were rattled after they dropped Campher on 17 at the end of the ninth over and then misfielded to allow four at the end of the 10th.
Rock hit Peter for four in an over that cost eight and he was replaced by Bjorn Fortuin and allowed to change ends. And then he struck. Peter bowled Rock with a delivery that straightened as he tried to sweep and ended a partnership that was threatening to take the game away. That wicket would prove crucial in the target Ireland ended up setting South Africa.
At 163 for 5 after 18 overs, Ireland would have been eyeing a total over 180 but an excellent last couple of overs from South Africa’s seamers kept them to 171. Williams bowled the 19th over and, with a wide slip in place, stuck to a selection of wide yorkers. All Ireland managed were singles off every ball in that over. Then it was over to Patrick Kruger, who took pace off with immediate success.
Dockrell played a swipe too early and was caught behind. Off the next ball, Fionn Hand tried to ramp Patrick Kruger but could only get the ball as far as short fine leg. Patrick Kruger’s hat-trick ball missed everything and cost a bye. His penultimate delivery brought another wicket as Mark Adair tried to hit him over the off side and was caught by Wiaan Mulder. Patrick Kruger finished with a triple-wicket maiden and South Africa only conceded eight runs in the last two overs.
Tector fell immediately after the PowerPlay, miscuing a reverse sweep. Neil Rock and Campher consolidated the innings and built a 59-run stand together. The former hit Kruger for a four and a six but was bowled off leg spinner Nqaba Peter in the 14th over.
The Irish continued to score a boundary in each of the following overs before Baartman was smashed for two sixes in the 17th over. At a healthy position of 153 for 4, Kruger came back to the attack and scalped Campher, one short of a half-century followed by three wickets in his final over. Ireland finished at 171 for 8.
Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks sets the platform for SA with blazing start
In response, Ryan Rickelton broke the shackles with two boundaries off Mark Adair. His partner, Reeza Hendricks went one better two overs later, scoring three boundaries off Adair. The bowling changes didn’t work for Ireland either as Fionn Hand was dispatched for two sixes, as South Africa ended the PowerPlay at 58 for 0.
The big picture of South Africa’s batting woes against Afghanistan aside, the opening batters had questions over their form going into this game. Hendricks had only gone past 30 in three of his last 12 T20Is while Ryan Rickelton had a top score of 27 from eight white-ball internationals.
Were they the best combination sans Quinton de Kock. Yes, they said, as they grabbed the chase by the scruff of the neck in the powerplay. Ryan Rickelton got the ball rolling with back-to-back boundaries off Mark Adair and showed his ability against the short and full balls.
Hendricks only faced four balls in the first three overs but when given more of the strike, he made the most of it. He smashes four fours in six deliveries, to bring up 2000 runs in T20I cricket. Ryan Rickelton finished off the powerplay hitting Hand for two enormous sixes and South Africa were 58 for 0 in the powerplay.
Hendricks and Ryan Rickelton took advantage of the dewy conditions as the Irish were erring on line and length, unable to grip the wet ball. The batters found the fence at least once every over which kept the asking rate in control throughout. Ryan Rickelton brought up his first international fifty with a cut to sweeper cover.
Ryan Rickleton’s previous best score in six T20Is was 27, and he passed that after consecutive sixes off medium-pacer Fionn Hand. He then took Matthew Humphreys over cow corner and smoked Ben White over deep midwicket to reach his maiden T20I fifty in 30 balls. White went for another couple of sixes in the 11th over and South Africa’s run rate passed 10.
Hendricks got his fifty off 31 balls by hitting Hand for six over deep square leg but was out in the next over, pinned in front by Craig Young for 51 off 33. Two overs later, Ryan Rickelton reached his fifty off 30 deliveries. South Africa were 97 without loss at the halfway stage and the horse had bolted. Ryan Rickelton was caught in the following over, the 14th, for 76 off 48. Ryan Rickelton and Hendricks scored 136 together and brought the required run rate down to less than a run a ball.
Aiden Markram and Mark Breetzke completes 8 wicket win for SA.
After the drinks break, Hendricks smashed a few sixes as he brought up his fifty as well. But, Craig Young had him trapped in front soon after he reached the landmark. Ryan Rickelton followed in the next over, caught at cover-point.
With 33 needed off 36 balls, Aiden Markram and Matthew Breetzke completed the proceedings with 2.2 overs to spare. Matthew Breetzke and captain Aiden Markram had no trouble knocking off the last runs and preserving South Africa’s unbeaten record against Ireland in T20Is.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Aiden Markram the winning skipper said : It’s nice to win. Been testing times for us. You never take wins for granted, tough conditions and they made us finish off well and that partnership at the top was really special.
[on Rickelton] He’s been our T20 player of the year two years on the bounce and people forget that I guess, he does it in his own unique way and really chuffed for him and for Reeza as well. [on bowling spin early] Got to a stage where gripping the ball gets tougher with sweaty hands, sometimes it might work, sometimes it doesn’t.
Paul Stirling the losing skipper said : We were looking at maybe 190-200, but they bowled really well, they snuffed us out at the end. At the 15-over mark we were well-placed but 170 turned out not to be enough. It’s not with the surface but it slips out, we saw that at the end when we tried the yorkers. We got a lot out of the game, the scoreboard says it’s a big defeat but the youngsters did well, who have not played a lot of international cricket so far they did well.
Ryan Rickelton Player of the Match for his career best 76 runs said : Was a good wicket, we knew training at night, it would swing a bit. Wanted to get through that initial phase. New ball can bring runs but also bring wickets. Once we found out the ball stopped swinging, we went for it, it fell into our laps a bit.
[on thoughts about a 100] To be honest, I did not think I would even get close, I haven’t got to 50 so me and Reeza always have a competition, nice for him to get a few away as well. We are looking to play really positively, if we had won with 10 wickets in hand, with the great players to follow, would have been nice, but as a group we are looking to play like this.
South Africa win this so easily – Philander on air gives us this stat: In 67 T20Is at this ground, this is the highest successful run-chase. Ryan Rickelton and Reeza needed to make a mark after an underwhelming run of late. And they turned it all around with a fantastic stand of 136. Both were in an aggressive mood and the poor bowling from Ireland certainly helped.
As the game wore on, the dew made it even harder for Ireland and one saw a lot of full-tosses with Hand in particular failing to land the ball properly. Ryan Rickelton and Reeza went in quick succession but Breetzke and Markram ensured there were no further mishaps. Ireland were well below their mark with the ball and what looked like a good score turned out be way too short. South Africa go 1-0 up in this two-match series.
South Africa eased to an eight-wicket triumph over Ireland in the first match of their T20I series, with Patrick Kruger and Ryan Rickelton starring for the Proteas. Kruger’s four-wicket haul saw Ireland manage 171 from their overs, with Ryan Rickleton’s knock of 76 from 48 deliveries giving his side a solid foundation to build on.
The Proteas started strongly as Ross Adair (18), Paul Stirling (two) and Harry Tector (16) fell inside the first six overs through deliveries from Ottniel Baartman (1-36), Wiaan Mulder (1-15) and Bjorn Fortuin (1-28). Curtis Campher’s 49 attempted to steady the ship for Ireland, only for Kruger (4-27) to rip through their middle order, giving his side a manageable target to reach.
South Africa’s opening partnership of Reeza Hendricks (51) and Rickelton set the early tone, with the Proteas going 136 runs without loss until Hendricks was dismissed by Craig Young (1-25). Ryan Rickleton’s time at the crease came to an end in the following over, but Matthew Breetzke (19) and Aiden Markram (17) were able to guide South Africa home to take a 1-0 series lead ahead of the second T20I on Sunday.