In the opening ODI of the series, South Africa defeated Ireland by a score of 139 runs. After losing the ODI series to Afghanistan, they were under pressure, but against Ireland, the team’s seasoned players came through and won the match. Ryan Rickelton, the opener, laid the groundwork with his 91 runs, followed by Tristan Stubbs’ 79. Bjorn Fortuin contributed a cameo of 28 runs towards the end of the first innings, which helped South Africa score 271 runs.
Lizaad Williams’ four-fer stole the show in the second innings when it came to bowling. With two wickets apiece, Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn held Ireland to 132 runs. After the game, skipper Temba Bavuma spoke about the victory and praised Rickelton and Stubbs for their outstanding hits and the bowlers for sweeping Ireland. In addition, he provided an update on Tony de Zorzi, who was forced to leave the game due to an injury.
Temba Bavuma stated during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Rickelton and Stubbs had a great first inning, and the series is off to a fantastic start. We felt that the seamen performed admirably. Outstanding work on their part. He (referring to Tony de Zorzi) is scheduled to have scans tomorrow. It was just a matter of maintaining the pressure and challenging those three (the pace trio of Ngidi, Williams, and Baartman) as we tried to play what was in front of us and we had guys who can do a bit of both (swing and seam).
For me, the wobbling seam works better: Lizaad Williams
Lizaad, who had just scored a four-fer, clarified that the pacers had put in a lot of practice to lay their bowls precisely. The 31-year-old added that he primarily uses wobble seam since he finds it difficult to bowl bouncers.
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We conducted extensive analysis. We attempted to land the majority of our balls on a box that served as our target. The wobbling seam works better for me; I don’t get any bounce. I felt a little more energised because of the slight wind, Lizaad remarked.