Ireland eye fightback in second T20I against South Africa
Overview
Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast
22 July, 16:00 Local
Even if the South African batting line-up has floundered once in a while, their bowlers have often brought them back in the game, with Tabraiz Shamsi proving to be the kingpin of the visitors' bowling operations. He returned a brilliant 4/27 to see South Africa to victory in the first T20I clash.
However, Ireland have shown sparks of being able to take down the South Africans. Their bowling has challenged the visitors and allowed them to dictate terms but it is the batting that needs to come to assistance to cross the line.
Remember the last time
South Africa posted a total of 165/7 that was deemed below par but it was the bowling unit led by the No.1 T20I bowler, Tabraiz Shamsi, that covered up for the effort.
☝️ 4/27 off 4.0@shamsi90 was at his brilliant best as @OfficialCSA beat Ireland by 33 runs.#IREvSA pic.twitter.com/oaaZhfq3pJ
— ICC (@ICC) July 19, 2021
Ireland in their chase could never retort as wickets fell at regular intervals. A fightback came from the number 10 and 11 batters, Barry McCarthy and Josh Little respectively, who resisted with a 38-ball 44 run stand but could only take Ireland to 132 which meant the Proteas took the first T20I with 33 runs.
What they said
Temba Bevuma (South Africa captain):“We always backed our bowling. Super happy with the bowling. Bowling has been our strength and we hope it continues to be that way. It helps to have a mystery spinner in the line-up.”
Mark Adair (Ireland player): “T20 cricket can be a complicated game at times, but from game one we know that if we just closed out their innings better, and started ours a bit better. We just need to simplify our game plan - I don’t think we need to do anything too different, we just need to be aware of how we go about executing our plans and getting people within the team involved."