World Cup 2015 Match 24 South Africa vs Ireland Review: Another run fest for Proteas

World Cup 2015 Match 24 South Africa vs Ireland Review: Another run fest for Proteas: South Africa and Ireland met in Canberra for the 24th match of the 2015 World Cup. South Africa batted first and we got to see another run fest in World Cup 2015.

Hashim Amla continued his good form from the last few months while Quinton de Kock experiment as opener failed again.  But Hashim Amla  and Faf du Plessis got together to add 247 runs for the second wicket for South Africa. The Irish bowlers had no answer how to dismiss the two and even dropped a catch of Hashim Amla, like he needed a chance to make their lives more dismal. He did go on to score his highest ODI score of 159 off 128 balls with 16 fours and 4 sixes. This was his 3rd score of 150 in last 2 months. Faf du Plessis gave him ample support to Amla making his own century, 109 from 109 balls with 10 fours and 1 six.  After they departed, South Africa got the ending they wanted with Rilee Russouw making 61 off 30 balls and David Miller scoring 46 off 23 balls. Proteas captain AB de Villiers scored 24 in just 9 balls to extend his contribution.

The Irish bowlers had no answer to the assault that South African batting rained on them Kevin O’Brien went for 95 runs in his 7 overs and Max Sorenson went for 76 in 6 overs. Their best bowler was Andy McBrine who took 2 wickets for 63 runs.

Quick Link : World Cup 2015 Match 25 Group B Pakistan v UAE  Preview

Ireland had no realistic chance of chasing the target but they could have set a smaller target to keep their net run rate up. But they went for the 411 and were 48/5 in the first 10 overs. After that it was a question of how many runs will they make. Andy Balbirnie scored 58 off 71 balls and Kevin O’Brien tried to make up for his bad bowling by making 48 off 65 balls. But in the end it was Kyle Abbott who took 4/21 and Morne Morkel who took 3/34 who had the last laughs. Even AB de Villiers came onto bowl and got a wicket in his 2 overs. Ireland lost the match by 201 runs and their net run rate now makes their match against Pakistan a virtual elimination match for both the sides.

Hashim Amla got the Man of the match for his brilliant 159 runs.

Brief Scores:
South Africa 411/4 (H Amla 159, F du Plessis 109; A McBrine 2/63) defeated Ireland 210 45 overs (A Balbirnie 58, K O’Brien 48; K Abbott 4/21) by 201 runs.