Cricket International match Following on from Ireland's historic 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe last week, expectations were higher than normal coming into this one-day challege against South Africa at Castle Avenue yesterday. They needn't have been.
It is hard to know what coach Adi Birrell will have learnt about his players during this convincing 132-run defeat but the sun shone, the 2,000-or-so-strong crowd cheered and the ICU took some money at the gate - as good a result as anyone could reasonably have hoped for.
But captain Jason Molins was clearly disappointed. "After our win over Zimbabwe we took a lot of confidence going into this game. We walked off the field today disappointed with having lost and that is a good thing because it shows we have belief in ourselves", he said.
This was South Africa's first game of a five-Test tour that includes a triangular one-day international series with England and Zimbabwe. And their batting display early on certainly had the look of a side embarking on a major tour. Rather than risk earning the wrath of selectors so early in the summer by throwing away wickets on big shots, the South African top order were content to ease the Irish bowlers into the gaps for singles.
The Irish bowlers never really threatened to assume control and Jacques Rudolph, Boeta Dippenaar and skipper Graeme Smith all passed 50 at a rate not much slower than a run a ball.
Having said that the Irishmen acquitted themselves well with a pleasantly low number of poor ball or wides. Paul Mooney kept a consistent line and was unlucky to end the day wicketless, spinner Andy White was the most niggardly of all, although he would still be hit for nearly five an over. It says a lot about how fluent the SA scoring was. Only for a couple of late wickets, the total could have been well over 300.
The total of 294 for 8, was never a realistic target despite Molins's characteristically positive start. But after he edged one to Shaun Pollock at first slip for 27, the home side excitement dried up for the most part. Wickets fell with painful regularity and the futility of this event as a contest rose proportionally. Only Niall O'Brien (31) and Andy White (29) showed any meaningful resistance. Off his pads O'Brien is a genuine pleasure to watch and he has a nice line in a cover drive too.
But just when he looked like anchoring the innings towards something approaching respectability, he attempted to steal a second run on the arm of Makhaya Npini and was run out a couple of feet short of his ground. And Ireland's resistance ran out shortly after that.
IRELAND INNINGS
J A M Molins c Pollock b Langeveldt 27
J P Bray c Boucher b Ntini 11
A C Botha b Ntini 16
N J O'Brien run out 31
P G Gillespie c van Jaarsveld b Ntini 1
W K McCallan c van Jaarsveld b Dawson 5
D Joyce lbw b Adams 0
A R White lbw b van Jaarsveld 29
P J K Mooney c Rudolph b Adams 8
C M Armstrong not out 14
G J Neely lbw b van Jaarsveld 0
Extras b1 lb4 w4 nb11 20
Total (37.5 overs) 162
Fall: 1-45 2-53 3-89 4-94 5-108 6-108 7-114 8-130 9-162
Bowling: Pollock 7 0 39 0; Dawson 8 4 25 1; Langeveldt 6 1 23 1; Ntini 6 0 21 3; Adams 6 1 25 2; Smith 3 0 13 0; van Jaarsveld 1.5 0 11 2.
SOUTH AFRICA INNINGS
G C Smith c Armstrong b White 61
H H Gibbs c Mooney b Botha 33
H H Dippenaar c O'Brien b Armstrong 76
J A Rudolph c Bray b Botha 54
M van Jaarsveld c Joyce b Neely 23
M V Boucher run out 6
S M Pollock c McCallan b Neely 16
A C Dawson c Gillespie b Neely 5
P R Adams not out 1
C K Langeveldt not out 0
Extras 19
Total 8 wkts (50 overs) 294
Fall: 1-55 2-131 3-234 4-249 5-268 6-271 7-293 8-293
Did Not Bat: M Ntini.
Bowling: Mooney 9 1 47 0; Neely 7 1 40 3; Botha 9 1 66 2; Armstrong 10 0 54 1; McCallan 8 0 47 0; White 7 0 33 1.
Umpires: S Daltry and O O'Reilly
South Africa beat Ireland by 132 runs.
