Staff Reporter.
South Africa secured a 3-0 series win over Ireland with a 49-run victory in the final Twenty20 match at Stormont.
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma (72) and Reeza Hendricks (69) put on 127 for the opening stand to set the tourists on their way to 189-2.
Ireland made a decent start to reach 69-2 but collapsed to 102-8 and fell short on 140-9.
Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie made 27 while Wiaan Mulder and George Linde both picked up two wickets.
South Africa won the toss for the third straight game with Bavuma and Hendricks giving them the perfect start.
Bavuma faced 51 balls for his 72 while Hendricks made 69 off 48 deliveries as they provided the foundation for the biggest total of the series.
David Miller added an unbeaten 36 while it was a tough day for the Irish attack – spinner Simi Singh was the best of the bowlers with 1-27.
Irish opener Kevin O’Brien fell early again and Paul Stirling was dismissed for 19 to leave the hosts 36-2.
Balbirnie was joined by Lorcan Tucker (19) and it looked promising for Ireland at 69-2 before the wickets tumbled.
Tail-ender Craig Young (22) delayed the inevitable as Ireland’s batting again failed to deliver.
Mulder finished with impressive figures of 2-10 while Linde claimed 2-21.
“I have been lean with runs, but I am true to our game plan and want to put aside my personal things and focus on the team. We have to just challenge ourselves and get better. You always want to lead with the bat and I have struggled but I am enjoying the responsibility,” said captain Bavuma in his post-match interview.
“We felt we wanted to lay a foundation. We did not approach the conditions well, we felt we were too aggressive up front and we lost a lot of wickets. Today we were able to do well,” said Bavuma after the match.
“I am happy with power play, we wanted to be around 45, and obviously we didn’t get that but we laid a foundation upfront. It was kind of old school style and I am happy for Temba and Reeza,” said South African coach, Marck Boucher.
“Temba has been putting in a lot of hard work, he is a tough little character. When he doesn’t lead from front, that upsets him. He is the type of guy that wants to score runs and this is the perfect time for him to take it into Sri Lanka and the World Cup,” said Boucher.
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (capt), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Shane Getkate, Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Craig Young, Barry McCarthy, Benjamin White
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, George Linde, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Lizaad Williams.
Meanwhile Faf du Plessis will miss his side’s opening three games of The Hundred because of the lingering effects of concussion.
Du Plessis was due to captain the Northern Superchargers after replacing Australia’s Aaron Finch.
But he was not in the side for the Superchargers’ opening match of the new 100 balls per side tournament against the Welsh Fire on Saturday, with England all-rounder Ben Stokes leading the team instead.
Former South Africa skipper du Plessis, 37, suffered a concussion during a Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20 match in Abu Dhabi last month, after colliding with Quetta Gladiators team mate Mohammad Hasnain while trying to save a boundary and took no further part in that event.