That’s all from me. Another fearsome performance from South Africa’s batting line-up gave Ireland no chance of victory. I’ll leave you with a bit of post-match AB De Villiers quotage: Bye!
There’s been a lot of 100s over the last 12-18 months. We want to keep scoring centuries. Hashim’s incredible. Still the rock. He will always be the rock for us. He plays with a lot of class, his gameplans are so set. Hopefully he can stay in that form for the rest of the tour. The guys were very motivated for today, wanting to do well, and I saw every bit of that today.
Hashim Amla is the man of the match. This is (some of) what he had to say:
Fortunately we got off to a good start, and I just played a few shots. We had wickets in hand so it afforded us the luxury to [put the foot down]. It was a good wicket and fortunately we got some runs. We don’t look too far ahead. We’re just glad to win a game of cricket. Then the guys bowled exceptionally well. When you have any team four down chasing 400 the writing’s almost on the wall, and we ended with a comfortable victory.
South Africa win by 201 runs
It’s the 15th biggest winning margin in World Cup history*! It could have been bigger, if South Africa had another specialist frontline bowler rather than a variety of part-times in the middle overs, but it’s still plenty big enough.
*Er, thanks to colm18 for the fact-checking.
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WICKET! Dockrell b Morkel 25 (Ireland 210 all out)
Morkely bowls full and straight and Dockrell gives himself room, takes a swing and watches the ball smack into his off stump, and it’s all over!
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44th over: Ireland 203-9 (Dockrell 19, McBrine 2)
Abbott bowls, the over ending with five slips lined up waiting for a catch but McBrine missing the ball entirely (perhaps just aiming at the stumps would have been a better option). “This, in a backwards way, is an argument why Associates should be in the World Cup,” writes Stuart Moore. “Here they are, rather than thrashing around, sensibly trying to accumulate as many as they can in order to protect their run-rate. Did the Windies do that?” I’m not sure that such an emphatic defeat is the strongest argument, but then after Afghanistan v Scotland I’m not sure any further arguments are needed.
43rd over: Ireland 200-9 (Dockrell 18, McBrine 0)
The wicket comes from the final ball of the over, Ireland having scored their 200th run – gamely cheered by the green-clad fans – from the previous delivery.
WICKET! Sorensen c de Kock b Morkel 22 (Ireland 200-9)
A short ball catches the handle of Sorensen’s bat and loops lazily towards first slip, giving De Kock plenty of time to stroll over before pouching it.
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42nd over: Ireland 199-8 (Dockrell 17, Sorensen 22)
Tahir’s final over sees Sorensen thwack the third ball back past just past the bowler’s shoulder for four, and the fourth ball back past where the bowler’s shoulder would have been had he been standing on the shoulders of someone standing on the shoulders of someone else, for six.
41st over: Ireland 186-8 (Dockrell 15, Sorensen 11)
Dockrell goes for a quick single to mid-off, the ball going straight to De Villiers whose shy at the stumps misses with the batsman nowhere. As the ball leaves the fielder’s hands he cries, forlornly, “Noooooooooooo”.
40th over: Ireland 184-8 (Dockrell 14, Sorensen 11)
Tahir’s ninth over, and Sorensen smites the ball over mid-on for four before working the next through the covers for four more.
39th over: Ireland 176-8 (Dockrell 14, Sorensen 3)
Dropped! Dockrell diverts the ball to backward point where Miller misjudges his dive and lets the ball spill through his hands. It would have been a fine catch, but we’ve all seen finer. Then Sorensen misjudges a shorter ball, trying to duck as it heads straight for his body and hits his unprotected forearm. He barely flinches, and is either made of solid steel or is extremely ruddy good at disguising pain.
38th over: Ireland 172-8 (Dockrell 11, Sorensen 2)
Abbott gets his final ball to swing into Sorensen, who gets bat to it without much control and scurries a couple.
37th over: Ireland 169-8 (Dockrell 10, Sorensen 0)
“When Duminy returns, should De Kock be dropped?” wonders David Pienaar, as Steyn bowls and Dockrell scores a single. “I think he should be allowed to play himself in over the next two games, he’s such a natural striker of the ball – but if he doesn’t succeed in them, then drop him for the quarters. But do we need the extra keeping pressure on AB?” De Kock may have plenty of ability but he’s not showing it often enough – a combined 31 runs in his last five innings (he’s only exceeded 20 in three of his last 16 ODI knocks, 10 of which ended in single figures) tells its own story.
36th over: Ireland 168-8 (Dockrell 9, Sorensen 0)
“That Steve Mokoena’s a dreamer,” writes Billy Mills. “I’d take us getting to 200 from here.” Yes, 300 seems hopelessly distant. As for over 36: one over, one wide, one wicket, one single.
WICKET! O'Brien c Rossouw b Abbott 48 (Ireland 167-8)
The powerplay is signalled, and two balls into it (the first was a wide) Ireland lose another wicket, as O’Brien, sniffing a half-century, slightly mishits the ball high to deep midwicket where Rossouw runs to his left, sets himself and collects the catch.
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35th over: Ireland 166-7 (K O’Brien 48, Dockrell 8)
Maybe Steve’s right, though, because Steyn comes back for a second spell. One fine delivery zips an inch or two wide of Dockrell’s off stump, and another zips wide on the leg side but the umpire decides not to signal a wide.
34th over: Ireland 163-7 (K O’Brien 45, Dockrell 8)
Tahir continues and it would have been another maiden, had Dockrell not shifted his feet to thunder the third delivery over extra cover for six. “I don’t think Irish will get to even 300 runs because our boys are keen to wrap out the game now,” says Steve Mokoena. They might have wrapped up the game a while ago, but they were more keen to experiment with their bowling options.
33rd over: Ireland 157-7 (K O’Brien 45, Dockrell 2)
De Villiers gives himself another over, but there’s no repeat of his wicket-taking glory. Just a couple of singles.
32nd over: Ireland 155-7 (K O’Brien 44, Dockrell 1)
Tahir bowls the day’s third maiden, and the first since over number three of South Africa’s innings.
31st over: Ireland 155-7 (K O’Brien 44, Dockrell 1)
De Villiers isn’t much of a bowler, having now tried bowling five times in 183 ODIs. But the last three occasions – and his last bowl was on his last visit to Canberra, last November – have all brought at least one wicket. After Mooney’s gone Dockrell quickly grabs a single, and O’Brien pulls a short (and weak) ball for four. There’s an attempted stumping off the last, but replays show that O’Brien’s toe remained planted at all times.
WICKET! Mooney b De Villiers 8 (Ireland 150-7)
De Villiers bowls, and his second delivery accounts for Mooney, who chops the ball into his stumps!
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30th over: Ireland 150-6 (K O’Brien 40, Mooney 8)
Tahir bowls, and Ireland score a single off each of the first four deliveries to bring up a raucously-cheered 150.
29th over: Ireland 146-6 (K O’Brien 38, Mooney 6)
Du Plessis bowls a fourth over, the first time he’s done that in a ODI since January 2012, and it starts with O’Brien hitting over the infield and to the extra cover boundary for four, with runs continuing to dribble out thereafter.
28th over: Ireland 137-6 (K O’Brien 31, Mooney 4)
Tahir’s back, with five dot balls as well. Mooney grabbed a couple off the one that wasn’t. South Africa continue to avoid the jugular.
27th over: Ireland 135-6 (K O’Brien 31, Mooney 2)
Du Plessis bowls again, and Mooney attempts to ramp the ball over the keeper but it flies off his glove, up in the air and to safety.
26th over: Ireland 130-6 (K O’Brien 28, Mooney 0)
Morkel enjoys his over so much he extends it with a sixth-ball bouncer that flies over O’Brien’s head and is called a wide. Earlier, Balbirnie had struck one final lovely four before his dismissal. Now only O’Brien stands between Ireland and the exit.
Ireland v Eng, Bangalore 2011: 113-5 off 24.2. Ire v SA today: 115-5 off 24.2. Bang on target. Apart from target being 412 instead of 328.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) March 3, 2015
WICKET! Balbirnie c Rossouw b Morkel 58 (Ireland 129-6)
Balbirnie’s excellent innings comes to an end with a pull straight to Rossouw at deep square leg!
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25th over: Ireland 124-5 (Balbirnie 54, K O’Brien 27)
Six! Du Plessis bowls again and O’Brien crashes the ball over long on, with De Villiers diving at the boundary in vain hope of catching a ball that cleared him by five feet and the rope by a couple.
24th over: Ireland 115-5 (Balbirnie 53, K O’Brien 19)
At which Morkel returns. Balbirnie deflects the ball, apparently deliberately, past first slip for four, and sends the next through cover for another, which brings up his half-century. He arrived at the crease as South Africa were starting to scale back their initial assault, but has remained admirably unpanicked in what was a miserable match situation.
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23rd over: Ireland 107-5 (Balbirnie 45, K O’Brien 19)
Du Plessis bowls again, his three overs against West Indies in South Africa’s last game having been his first in ODI cricket for more than two years. He last took a ODI wicket in September 2012. He starts as badly as possible, with a leg-side wide that rumbles away to the boundary for five, but improves somewhat from there.
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22nd over: Ireland 98-5 (Balbirnie 42, K O’Brien 19)
Ireland, putting their own net run rate calculations to one side, set about reaching respectability. Five singles and a couple from Rossouw’s harmless over.
21st over: Ireland 91-5 (Balbirnie 38, K O’Brien 16)
Tahir continues, and other than befuddling Balbirnie with one googly it’s pretty straightforward stuff.
20th over: Ireland 87-5 (Balbirnie 36, K O’Brien 15)
Rossouw bowls, with the incentive of having a man-of-the-match award at stake – currently Amla’s to lose, but after his 39-ball 61 a couple of wickets from Rossouw might put his name in the frame. He doesn’t look much like getting them here, and Ireland add five to their total.
19th over: Ireland 82-5 (Balbirnie 34, K O’Brien 12)
Tahir speeds through another over, with Balbirnie taking a single from the penultimate delivery.
18th over: Ireland 81-5 (Balbirnie 33, K O’Brien 12)
The slower bowlers seem more likely to restrict runs than to take wickets, which isn’t necessarily what anyone particularly needs right now. O’Brien gets a very thin edge to send the ball, just, past Morkel’s dive on the boundary rope.
17th over: Ireland 72-5 (Balbirnie 28, K O’Brien 7)
Balbirnie sweeps past square leg for four off the first ball of Tahir’s over. I must admit I miss that delivery as I rush to the staff canteen for some breakfast. It’s a granola day.
16th over: Ireland 65-5 (Balbirnie 24, K O’Brien 5)
Behardien bowls, and has a smart caught-and-bowled chance as Balbirnie pushes the ball meekly back in his direction. Behardien launches himself to his left but gets only fingertips on the ball. Otherwise no drama, four singles, and then some drinks.
15th over: Ireland 61-5 (Balbirnie 22, K O’Brien 3)
Some spin, then, as the ball is thrown to Imran Tahir. A couple of singles, a leg bye and a very pleasing sweep for four. South Africa have an incentive to keep pushing, with top spot in Pool B up for grabs if they win quickly enough.
14th over: Ireland 54-5 (Balbirnie 17, K O’Brien 2)
Morkel, still wicketless, continues. There’s a moment of excitement as Balbirnie pushes one towards mid-off, but the fielder’s a couple of yards too far away to catch it. Just a single scored.
13th over: Ireland 53-5 (Balbirnie 17, K O’Brien 1)
Ireland snaffle a couple of singles, the second of them pretty sharp – Balbirnie was a whisker away from getting run out, only for the ball to fly just pass the stumps.
@Simon_Burnton So eyes looking down for the record World Cup win? #CWC15
— Ravi Nair (@palfreyman1414) March 3, 2015
So the biggest winning margin in World Cup history is 257, held jointly by South Africa for their victory over West Indies in their last match. A new record looks likely at the moment, with Ireland needing another 102 to deny it.
12th over: Ireland 51-5 (Balbirnie 16, K O’Brien 0)
Ireland reach 50 as Balbirnie grabs a couple. It’s an occasion for celebrating even the most minor landmarks.
11th over: Ireland 48-5 (Balbirnie 13, K O’Brien 0)
As Abbott comes in to bowl his fourth delivery to Kevin O’Brien Balbirnie at the other end drops his bat and stoops to pick it up. O’Brien keeps his focus to get bat to ball, but doesn’t trouble the scorers. One run and one wicket from the over.
WICKET! Wilson lbw b Abbott 0 (Ireland 48-5)
And another one’s gone! Abbott gets the ball to nip back into the batsman, who can’t react to the movement in time to deflect it off his pads. The batsmen consider a review, but after a brief discussion Wilson trudges off.
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10th over: Ireland 47-4 (Balbirnie 12, Wilson 0)
Morkel bowls a little too short, straight into Balbirnie’s hitting zone, and he thumps it over midwicket for four. The next delivery is a beauty, pitched full and flying straight past a nonplussed batsman and through to de Kock.
9th over: Ireland 42-4 (Balbirnie 7, Wilson 0)
The twin highlights of the over are a fine boundary for O’Brien, pulled over square leg, and then his dismissal from the very next delivery.
WICKET! O'Brien c Amla 14 (Ireland 42-4)
O’Brien gets an edge towards first slip, de Kock goes for it and gets the edge of a glove to it and deflects the ball into Amla’s chest, where it lodges behind an arm. At the end of it, you expected to see the ball in the wicketkeeper’s glove, only for Amla to start waving it about like a conjuror.
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8th over: Ireland 37-3 (O’Brien 10, Balbirnie 6)
Morkel bowls, and after a few dot balls Balbirnie decides he has to hit one but sends it straight to mid-on, where it bounces a yard and a half short of the fielder. Then he hits in the air to square leg where the ball loops just over the clawing hand of a backpedalling Behardien. If the fielder were a foot taller, Ireland would have four down.
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7th over: Ireland 36-3 (O’Brien 10, Balbirnie 5)
After his third over Steyn is asked if he wants another, and he most emphatically does. With two wickets already, he’s sniffing more. Instead he concedes 10, the highlight being O’Brien’s punch through the covers for four, with the batsman then getting away with top-edging a hook.
6th over: Ireland 26-3 (O’Brien 1, Balbirnie 4)
Balbirnie takes a wild swish at Abbott’s penultimate delivery but gets away with it, and is then all squared up by the last, which zips through to Quinton de Kock collects.
5th over: Ireland 25-3 (O’Brien 0, Balbirnie 4)
Balbirnie becomes the third Irishman to get off the mark with a boundary, thumping a low full toss through the on-side for four.
4th over: Ireland 21-2 (Joyce 0, O’Brien 0)
Didn’t quite get a chance to launch this between wickets: Abbott’s first delivery slides just past Porterfield’s edge without quite finding it, and the batsman then pulls in the air but just wide of Steyn at short fine leg, but he doesn’t stay long.
WICKET! Joyce c Amla b Steyn 0 (Ireland 21-3)
This is excellent, hostile bowling from Steyn and Ireland have no answer to it. He sends one ball short, the next full, and Joyce edges the second to slip, where Amla clutches the ball to his chest.
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WICKET! Porterfield c Du Plessis b Abbott 12 (Ireland 21-2)
This could be brief. That’s a poor shot from an unexceptional delivery, spearing it to midwicket where Du Plessis takes a smart low catch.
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3rd over: Ireland 17-1 (Porterfield 8, Joyce 0)
Stirling, like Porterfield, gets off the mark with a boundary, pushing emphatically past point, a shot the batsman enjoys so much he does it again next ball, but the over is not destined to end quite as well as it started for him. Indeed it ends with Ed Joyce, the new batsman, ducking under a bouncer.
WICKET! Stirling c de Kock b Steyn 9 (Ireland 17-1)
Stirling edges the ball on its way through to the keeper, causing a very slight deflection but a very obvious noise. Ranmore Martinesz doesn’t hear it, but the review is instant and successful.
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REVIEW! Is Stirling out here?
Everyone but the umpire thinks so. But what of snicko?
2nd over: Ireland 7-0 (Porterfield 7, Stirling 0)
Abbott gets us started from t’other end, and there’s a hint of inswing here, promisingly. And then there’s a massive lbw shout as the ball thuds into Porterfield’s pad. Umpire Steve Davis is unmoved and South Africa decide not to review, sensing perhaps that HawkEye would not be conclusive enough to overturn the on-field decision. Turns out it would have been.
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1st over: Ireland 5-0 (Porterfield 5, Stirling 0)
Steyn opens the bowling for South Africa, and Porterfield drives through the covers for four, and then thick-edges along the ground for a single. Ireland will presumably be aiming for something around the 300 mark, thinking more about their future in this tournament than the extraordinarily remote possibility of winning this match.
The players are back out and preparing for action. Deep breath now.
“That is a brilliant performance,” writes Ditaba Mphuthi. “I just hope they take this and make it to the final and bring it home.” They are an absolutely thrilling batting outfit and no mistake. Anyway, he continues: “Can Ireland get there?” Well, time will tell. But if you put me on the spot I’m going with no.
If we repeatedly tell ourselves this might happen, maybe it’ll happen.
There have only been 5 run chases above 300 in World Cup history and Ireland is responsible for 3. Can it chase 400?
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 3, 2015
Hello world!
So the live odds on this game have South Africa at 1/500, and Ireland at a not very generous 66/1. Ireland’s highest-ever score batting second in a ODI is the 329 they famously reached to beat England in 2011 which, while impressive, would still leave them 83 runs short here. Still, where there’s life there’s hope, eh?
Ireland will chase 412 to win
Yeah, good luck with that. A very strong batting performance as we expected from South Africa. Amla took advantage of his lifeline on 10 and played a wonderful innings of 159, ably supported by his fellow centurion Faf Du Plessis.
Ireland, in truth, didn’t bowl particularly well, Dockrell and McBrine aside. Simon Burnton is here to guide you through the chase. Email him at simon.burnton@theguardian.com. Bye!
50th over: South Africa 411-4 (Miller 46, Rossouw 61) The final over then before I hand you over to Simon Burnton. Can South Africa make it back-to-back 400s? Kevin O’Brien is the bowler charged with stopping them. His first ball is in the slot and slog-swept over long-on, where it’s caught in the crowd. He then gets a bottom edge past Wilson and away for three. That just feels cruel. Another six as Rossouw clears mid-wicket and that’s a World Cup first, taking them past 400 for the second match in a row. That’s also the 100 partnership off 51 balls and the next ball is chopped down to third man for four. The fifth ball is bunted off the toe end of the bat for a single to cover. Last ball and it flies off the inside edge and down to fine leg for four more. 24 from the final over!
49th over: South Africa 387-4 (Miller 33, Rossouw 50) Sorensen to bowl the penultimate over. He starts with a dot as Miller drives back to him, but the left-hander then clears his front leg and hits it through mid-on for four. A wide half-volley is carved over extra cover for a one-bounce four, then a bye as the left-hander misses out on a full-toss. The fifth ball, to Rossouw is a dot, then a beamer, a no-ball, is lofted over extra cover for another four. Can Rossouw get to his 50? Yep, he smears it straight down the ground to bring up a 27-ball half-century.
48th over: South Africa 371-4 (Miller 25, Rossouw 44) McBrine is back into the attack and after a good start, the first three balls yielding just a single, Riley Rossouw flat-bats one down the ground for six then gets a bottom edge round the corner for four.
47th over: South Africa 360-4 (Miller 24, Rossouw 34) 0-51 from Max Sorensen’s four overs so far but he’s back into the attack. Miller clubs a single down the ground, then Rossouw slogs a half-volley over mid-on for six. Three further singles and that’s 10 from the over.
46th over: South Africa 350-4 (Miller 22, Rossouw 26) Miller is given out, pinned LBW as he misses a sweep. He reviews immediately though and the replay shows conclusively that he’s got a bottom edge on it. Carry on, then. This is really good bowling from Stirling, tight and full and keeping the batsmen from freeing their arms. Just a single from the first four balls, another from the fifth and a third from the last. Excellent over
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45th over: South Africa 347-4 (Miller 21, Rossouw 24) O’Brien come on for Mooney and after an exchange of singles, Rossouw hoiks it behind square leg for four. Oh and this is ridiculous, Miller dummies to reverse, then pulls back and thumps a full-toss through mid-wicket for four more.
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44th over: South Africa 336-4 (Miller 20, Rossouw 14) More spin in the last 10 overs. Hmm. Stirling it is and Miller looks to swivel-pull him round the corner, gets a bottom edge and the ball trickling to the fine-leg boundary for four. Rossouw then sweeps to the same region for three. Nothing’s going Ireland’s way now, as Miller gets three more from a thick outside edge down to third man. 13 from the over.
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43rd over: South Africa 323-4 (Miller 16, Rossouw 5) Mooney now and Rossouw gets a single, before Miller knocks it down the ground then into the on-side for a pair of twos. These two aren’t going to go mad just yet, I wouldn’t have thought. Another single, a chipped two to Rossouw into the on-side and then a front-foot no-ball from Mooney, who doesn’t look particularly happy at the prospect of the free-hit. Miller is on strike and clears the mid-wicket boundary! That’s ruined a good over from Mooney.
Miller and Rilee both have strike rate overwhelmingly high for ODI 99 and 105 respectively #IREvSA
— Sanam Chitrakar (@ChitrakarSanam) March 3, 2015
42nd over: South Africa 307-4 (Miller 5, Rossouw 1) What an innings that was from Amla after being dropped on 10. David Miller isn’t a bad player to have coming in to smack it around at the death, mind. De Villiers turns it square for a couple, but then goes! Two new men at the crease, both fast-scoring big-hitters, but McBrine has done excellently in this over, slamming the brakes on in the most effective manner. Miller gets four with a sweep to square leg off the final ball, but that’s a very good over, going for just eight.
Geoff Foley did send this email before this over: “It seems to me, and many actual commentators, that the death bowling in the tournament so far as been pretty rubbish as a general rule. I know this is only the Irish today but teams with better credentials have been poor too. Is it just a symptom of the pitches served up or a more general indication of this generation’s lack of bowling ability?”
I think it’s essentially the case that batting has evolved quicker than bowling has: there’s no bowler who innovates with the ball in the way someone like ABdV does with the bat.
Wicket! De Villiers c N. O'Brien b McBrine 24
The danger man goes! He brings out the reverse sweep, looking for six, doesn’t get hold of it and can only pick out Niall O’Brien on the edge of the circle at point.
Wicket! Amla c Joyce b McBrine 159
There’ll be no double for Amla then. The bat twists slightly in the hand as he goes for the big hit and this time Joyce, at long-off, takes the catch.
41st over: South Africa 299-2 (Amla 159, De Villers 22) 380 should be the target for South Africa here, at least. Amla takes a couple into the off-side off O’Brien to move to 150 followed by a hook for four to move to his highest ODI score. Wide and full next ball and timed brilliantly past Stirling at backward point. De Villiers then launches a shot that we would once have thought ordinary, but now seems de rigeur, over extra cover for six more.
“They’re looking for another 200 off the last 10 overs, aren’t they?” writes Karl in Melbourne. “Still, let’s keep the Associates in, right? I did think it was a little premature to talk up the lesser nations, when they mostly haven’t played the favourites yet. Beating an out of sorts West Indies is one thing, but facing India and South Africa (or Australia) looking for form is clearly another.”
The point isn’t that the associates will ever win the thing. It’s that games as brilliant as Scotland v Afghanistan or Ireland v UAE were deserve the biggest stage. Certainly more than England’s serial thrashings do.
40th over: South Africa 280-2 (Amla 148, De Villers 14) Dockrell replaces Mooney; he’s bowled pretty well without really threatening so far. Then again, he hasn’t had to bowl to de Villiers yet. AB backs away and carves the first ball over cover for four, then sweep-slogs inches beyond the grasp of deep square-leg – so close to a brilliant catch from the diving McBrine, who was late picking it up, but instead it’s a six. A full-toss is then driven to extra cover for two more and a wild slash to the same region both bewilders the cameraman and brings one more. Then a chest-high full-toss, oddly not called as a no-ball, is slammed to the mid-on fence for four by Amla. One more from the final ball of the powerplay and 69 have come from it.
39th over: South Africa 262-2 (Amla 143, De Villers 1) O’Brien to Du Plessis and the keeper, stood up, very nearly takes a bat to the face as the batsman misses out with a ramp. Faf goes for the scoop after that to deep fine leg, where Dockrell does well to reel it back in and keep them to three. A single brings Du Plessis back on strike, and he misses out trying to smear a yorker into the on-side. That brings a fine innings to an end and brings AB de Villiers to the crease. He starts with a dance down the track and a dab to third man, then Amla dashes through for a well-run couple off the final ball. Just seven from the over – good comeback from KOB.
Wicket! Du Plessis b O'Brien 109
Gone! A perfect yorker from O’Brien and he hits the base of middle and leg.
38th over: South Africa 255-1 (Amla 140, Du Plessis 106) Mooney is back on and Gary Wilson is standing up to the stumps to him. Amla chips down the ground, but Joyce comes around from long-off to keep him down to two. No chance for the fielder on the next ball though as Mooney tries the slower bouncer and Amla goes back in his crease and hooks it over square leg for four. Oh and then a horrible high-full toss, above waist-height so a no ball and carved over cover for four. Amla steadies himself and swipes the next one over square for his third six; Mooney doesn’t have the pace to trouble him. Another boundary from the penultimate ball, deliberately sliced over backward point and down to third man. And finally over extra cover for six more! 27 from the over.
37th over: South Africa 228-1 (Amla 114, Du Plessis 106) Conference time for Ireland as Kevin O’Brien comes back into the attack. 21 came from his first two overs.
@DanLucas86 A friend did an analysis suggesting good teams are now reaching half their 50 over score by over 32. 388 for SA than? #CWC15
— Ravi Nair (@palfreyman1414) March 3, 2015
I’d be surprised if it was much less than that. Amla carves a couple out to deep extra cover, then drives brilliantly, opening the face and going over the top of point and away for four. This is now a record second-wicket partnership for South Africa in all ODIs. He chips down the ground for a single, before Du Plessis takes two. Then Faf comes out with the ramp, over his shoulder, over Wilson and down to the boundary for four more. Drinks break.
Du Plessis reaches his century
36th over: South Africa 215-1 (Amla 107, Du Plessis 100) Powerplay time. This could be fun. Dockrell continues, surprisingly; I’d have thought the hitherto excellent Moody might be on to apply the breaks, but then I guess Porterfield would then be short on death bowlers. It’s very good from Dockrell, at least keeping the scoring rate down. Du Plessis nudges one square on the on-side and scampers through for the single that takes him to his hundred. Good over from Dockrell though; four from it.
35th over: South Africa 211-1 (Amla 105, Du Plessis 98) So, the final over before the powerplay and Stirling will bowl it. 0-47 from his seven overs so far and he’s been unspectacularly leaky. A mix-up in the middle and Amla is stranded halfway down the pitch with the ball in the keeper’s hands, but Wilson throws it miles over Stirling’s head with Amla scrambling back to the non-striker’s end. Ireland’s fielding hasn’t been great today.
34th over: South Africa 206-1 (Amla 103, Du Plessis 95) Dockrell back now and the batsmen milk him for four singles.
Amla reaches his century
33rd over: South Africa 202-1 (Amla 101, Du Plessis 93) Du Plessis begins with a single to mid-on to give Amla the strike. Dropped on 10 by Joyce, the opener pushes calmly to mid-off to bring up his 20th ODI tonne and become the fastest player ever to reach the landmark. By some way, in fact: the previous record-holder, Virat Kohli, took 133 innings, Amla has done it in his 108th. Du Plessis ends the over with a boundary, hammered over long-off to bring up the 200
32nd over: South Africa 194-1 (Amla 99, Du Plessis 87) “Which batsman is most important for South Africa?” asks the Sky Sports poll. David Miller is actually an option. Poor David Miller. Amla turns a single to square leg to move to 99. Du Plessis then backs away, looking to hit through the off-side, but McBrine follows him well and doesn’t allow the batsman enough room. Just four from the over.
31st over: South Africa 190-1 (Amla 97, Du Plessis 85) This is now South Africa’s highest ever second-wicket stand in World Cups: 172 in as many balls. You get the feeling they’re just saving themselves for the powerplay now, because this is really boring. Oh, no, Du Plessis chips firmly, high over extra cover for four, bouncing a foot or so inside the rope.
30th over: South Africa 181-1 (Amla 94, Du Plessis 79) A change of ends for McBrine then as Porterfield tries to find something, anything, to break this partnership. Mark Nicholas is asking Shaun Pollock about South Africa choking and I cannot describe how awkward it is listening to him try avoid the c-word. Pollock is probably thinking of another c-word to describe Nicholas.
29th over: South Africa 176-1 (Amla 91, Du Plessis 77) Stirling returns in place of McBrine. Amla looks to slap him through cover, but Kevin O’Brien pulls off an outstanding one-handed stop at cover. Amla tries again next ball and O’Brien repeats the trick. Amla goes into the 90s.
28th over: South Africa 172-1 (Amla 89, Du Plessis 75) Du Plessis steps back and lifts a cover drive, over the top off the back foot but doesn’t quite get his placement right and can’t find the boundary. Just three from the over and this is a good comeback from Ireland’s spinners. It’s important they don’t let South Africa get a stratospheric total, given how easily fourth place in this pool could come down to net run rate.
27th over: South Africa 169-1 (Amla 89, Du Plessis 72) According to Sky’s poll, 70% of voters think that South Africa will finish second in Pool B. “What time is it in Mumbai?” asks Athers, wryly. Du Plessis gets a couple with the scoop over the shoulder in a pretty sedate over.
#Ire have been very disappointing. Spinners have been too short or too flat. Sorensen struggling in a big way. #SavsIre #CWC15
— Dileep Premachandran (@SpiceBoxofEarth) March 3, 2015
26th over: South Africa 163-1 (Amla 87, Du Plessis 68) Eight-an-over from here gets 360; I doubt anyone would be surprised if South Africa made 400 for the second game on the spin. Dockrell comes back into the attack for poor old Sorensen now. Singles from the first and fourth balls bring up the 150 partnership, but only three come from the over and the left-armer can be pleased with the way he put the brakes on there.
25th over: South Africa 160-1 (Amla 85, Du Plessis 67) If South Africa are in the mood this early, with De Villiers to come, this could get nasty. Du Plessis sweeps McBrine’s first ball hard for four. The way these two have seized the initiative to really ramp up the pressure on Porterfield is very impressive.
24th over: South Africa 152-1 (Amla 83, Du Plessis 61) Six! Good length, outside off from Sorensen but Amla comes forward and lofts it high over mid-on. Oh and the next one is even better: an identical delivery elegantly lifted over extra cover for another six! This is a horror show for Sorensen as he drops short and wide and gets cut to point for four more. Amla pushes down the ground for a single, much to the bowler’s relief. And the moment I write that, Du Plessis steps down the track and launches it straight back over the bowler’s head for another six. The final ball is pushed for a single to make it 24 from the over. Sorensen has figures of 4-0-51-0.
23rd over: South Africa 128-1 (Amla 66, Du Plessis 54) Amla looks to loft McBrine over the top of long-on, but doesn’t quite get hold of it and finds the fielder. Over mid-wicket he goes with the next ball, but the boundary fielder again runs round and cuts it off. Four singles followed by two dots.
22nd over: South Africa 124-1 (Amla 64, Du Plessis 52) Sorensen, who sent down six wides in his opening, two-over, spell, returns. Amla likes the look of him and steps down the ground to a good length ball and clubs it off the front foot, past the diving mid-off fielder and down to the boundary. He cracks the next one over cover but picks out the fielder, so it’s just a single, but Amla looks in the mood to take advantage of Joyce’s drop earlier. Six from the over and you fancy South Africa to get 350-plus from here.
21st over: South Africa 118-1 (Amla 59, Du Plessis 51) Ireland are absolutely racing through the overs here. Better, this one for McBrine as it goes for just three.
20th over: South Africa 115-1 (Amla 57, Du Plessis 50) Stirling comes back into the attack and again it’s short and pulled over mid-wicket for a boundary by Faf. The next ball is worked for a single down the ground and that brings up the 100 partnership from 107 balls. Amla takes one down the ground himself, then Du Plessis cuts a wide one out to point for the single that brings up his fifty.
19th over: South Africa 107-1 (Amla 55, Du Plessis 44) This is so serene it might as well be directed by Sofia Coppola. Du Plessis’s thick outside edge for three down to third man the highlight of this over.
18th over: South Africa 102-1 (Amla 54, Du Plessis 40) Short again from Dockrell and Du Plessis pulls it over mid-wicket for four more, off the back foot, to bring up the 100. Then it takes an excellent diving stop at point by McBrine to keep a punchy Amla cut from flying away for four more. Six from the over.
17th over: South Africa 96-1 (Amla 53, Du Plessis 35) A new bowler into the attack: Andy McBrine. He finds a soupçon of turn but drops short and gets cut to backward point, where a good sliding stop by Porterfield restricts Amla to three. Nonetheless, those three take him to his 29th ODI fifty. The batsmen exchange singles, then Du Plessis sends a deliberate edge down to third man for three more. One off the final ball of the over.
16th over: South Africa 87-1 (Amla 48, Du Plessis 31) Dockrell drags his first two balls short. The first he gets away with as Amla pushes it for one, but the second is a horrible delivery that Du Plessis hoicks over mid-wicket for four. Dockrell should have extra runs added against his name on aesthetic grounds for that. Time for drinks.
15th over: South Africa 80-1 (Amla 46, Du Plessis 26) Short and wide from Stirling and Amla cuts with a lovely whippy action behind point for four. Three further singles from the over and South Africa ease to 80.
14th over: South Africa 73-1 (Amla 40, Du Plessis 25) Amla gets a couple of freebies as he plays it back to Dockrell, the ball catches a ridge on the ground and it spins away from the bowler. A yes-no moment after a good sharp stop at cover has hearts in mouths, but Amla turns and gets back at the non-striker’s end safely.
13th over: South Africa 70-1 (Amla 37, Du Plessis 25) Faf nearly gets himself into a spot of bother, stepping outside off and looking to shovel the ball over his shoulder with the premeditated shot but only successfully playing it into his own body. The batsmen jog a single then Amla slaps inelegantly through extra cover for a couple. He repeats the effort next ball, but connects with naught but air.
@DanLucas86 At the risk of stating the flipping obvious, Ireland need three wickets here.
— Ravi Nair (@palfreyman1414) March 3, 2015
They don’t look like coming, Ravi.
12th over: South Africa 66-1 (Amla 34, Du Plessis 24) Dockrell to continue. He looks to have adjusted his length here, bowling much fuller. Just the two singles from the over.
11th over: South Africa 64-1 (Amla 33, Du Plessis 23) A dual spin attack then, as Paul Stirling comes on for Mooney. Amla nearly takes his batting partner out with a push down the ground that bounces surprisingly high, past Du Plessis’s face. Ooh and then Du Plessis flashes at one with an angled bat and edges it between Wilson and O’Brien at slip! Probably the keeper’s, that one, but it runs away for four.
10th over: South Africa 57-1 (Amla 31, Du Plessis 18) Mooney’s figures are now 5-2-9-1; O’Brien’s and Sorensen’s combined are 4-0-42-0. Which means another change at this end and it’s the spinner Dockrell into the attack. It’s a bit short from the left-armer and Du Plessis steps back and hammers the second ball of the over through point for four. That plus two singles from the over and that’s a decent enough powerplay for South Africa. For Ireland, John Mooney has carried his side through those 10 overs.
9th over: South Africa 51-1 (Amla 30, Du Plessis 13) Du Plessis begins the over with a punch off the back foot to mid-on for a couple that raise the team 50. Four dots follow, although the fourth of those is a touch fortunate – a full toss that was driven straight at short cover. Du Plessis turns the final ball of the over to mid-wicket for one.
8th over: South Africa 48-1 (Amla 30, Du Plessis 10) The first ball of the over is overpitched and driven straight back past the bowler for another four by Amla, who moves to 25 off 24 despite playing out a maiden in the first over. After an exchange of singles, another overpitched delivery is creamed through cover for four more. Sorensen couldn’t find his line and now O’Brien is struggling with his length.
7th over: South Africa 38-1 (Amla 21, Du Plessis 9) Mooney drops slightly short and Amla pulls for a single, but this is so accurate from the bowler. He’s bowling from very wide on the crease, everything is full and angled into off-stump. Du Plessis then steps across, about a foot outside off-stump and when Mooney follows him the bowler is displeased to be called for a wide. Still, just two from the over.
6th over: South Africa 36-1 (Amla 20, Du Plessis 9) After an expensive start, Sorensen is hooked in favour of Kevin O’Brien, and from his first ball he has Amla dropped! The batsman whipped it off middle stump, hard to short mid-wicket where it went into Joyce’s hands and out again! The batsmen exchange singles, before Amla wristily cuts a wide one through point for four. Oh and then the final ball, overpitched, is driven gloriously through cover for another boundary.
5th over: South Africa 25-1 (Amla 10, Du Plessis 8) The first runs off Mooney as he goes a touch too straight to Du Plessis and the batsman turns him square for a couple. The bowler comes back well though getting one to shape away and beat Faf’s outside edge. Another single down to fine leg and then Amla nudges the final ball for one more.
Karl in Melbourne isn’t impressed with Ireland’s decision to go with three spinners. “Srsly? have you seen the size of that ground? It’s super small! Are they for real?”
It’s actually bigger than the SCG and the Gabba, similar in size to the MCG.
4th over: South Africa 21-1 (Amla 9, Du Plessis 5) Sorensen begins with another wide – his fourth already. Amla then drives off the front foot to deep backward point for a single, before Sorensen sends down wide number five, this time on the off-side. And then a sixth down leg. He gets his line right from the third legal ball, but Du Plessis caresses it nicely through extra cover for four. Mooney’s excellent work is being undone by Sorensen’s lack of control at the moment: the latter has figures of 2-0-21-0.
3rd over: South Africa 12-1 (Amla 8, Du Plessis 0) The ball that did for De Kock didn’t do much at all, it was just a great line with only the tiniest bit of deviation and the batsman just closed his bat ever so slightly to continue his poor World Cup. In fact replays show that was the off-cutter. Du Plessis is the new man and he’s watchful. Another maiden and Mooney has outstanding figures to start: 2-2-0-1.
Wicket! De Kock c Wilson b Mooney 1
In contrast to Sorensen, Mooney is right on the money and after two more dots, he gets one to leave De Kock. There’s a noise and they opt to review after it’s given not out. It just moved away from the left-hander off the pitch and it looks like an edge to me. There’s only the faintest flicker on snicko, but it’s pretty clear to the naked eye. Yep he’s gone! Great start for Ireland and Mooney.
2nd over: South Africa 12-0 (Amla 8, De Kock 1) Max Sorensen has the other new ball and he starts with a wide to the left-handed De Kock, swinging down the leg-side to get South Africa off the mark. The batsman then turns Sorensen’s first legal delivery to square off his pads for a single, before the bowler gets one to swing too far away from the right-hander on the off-side for another wide. Amla gets off the mark with a crunching on-drive for four. Another wide outside off and Sorensen is struggling to find his line here. Another wide one and Amla flashes his drive in the air, just past Porterfield at point and away for four more.
1st over: South Africa 0-0 (Amla 0, De Kock 0) With his luminous baggy tracksuit and day-glo headband, John Mooney looks like someone going to a Stone Roses gig. Anywho, he’s opening the bowling here to Amla. Wide on the crease and angled into the right-hander with two slips in place. Amla blocks out the first three then looks to push the fourth down the ground, but can’t drive it cleanly. He clips the fifth straight to the man at mid-on, then Mooney cuts off a straight drive from the final ball to make it a maiden.
Dale Steyn is also due some congratulations: this is his 100th ODI. He really does have terrible hair though.
“Olympic swimmers can only manage 5mph over a short burst; even a blue shark can easily do 25mph,” adds Mike Lyle. “So no there will almost certainly never be a boy faster than a shark.”
Consider yourself told, Keenan.
Also:
Huge congratulations to my long time team mate @KevinOBrien113 on becoming Ireland's most capped player today! #welldeserved #BackingGreen
— Andrew White (@Whitey631) March 3, 2015
“Morning!” writes the oddly chirpy Mike Lyle. It’s 3.20am, Mike! “Ireland are looking at sending down about 30 overs of spin, if it does not spin we are in big trouble! Dockrell, McBrine and Sterling could all get thru ten each. Only 2 and half seamers as far as i can see in O’Brien, Mooney and Sorensen. So not exactly a strong seam attack, I think we all wanted Ireland to bat first.” The pundits think the additional spinner could be because the pitch is a bit slower than the Gabba.
Sky Sports are asking the important questions: In this case, how would AB de Villiers do against Joel Garner? After the break: will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?
The teams
Ireland: WTS Porterfield*, PR Stirling, EC Joyce, NJ O’Brien, A Balbirnie, GC Wilson†, KJ O’Brien, JF Mooney, MC Sorensen, GH Dockrell, AR McBrine
South Africa: HM Amla, Q de Kock†, F du Plessis, RR Rossouw, AB de Villiers*, DA Miller, F Behardien, DW Steyn, KJ Abbott, M Morkel, Imran Tahir
The toss
William Porterfield and De Villiers stroll out to the middle with Mark Nicholas. De Villiers wins it and South Africa will bat first. They are unchanged: JP Duminy still not fit for this one.
Porterfield would have chosen to bat first. Andy McBrine comes in for Alex Cusack, which is a surprise given this pitch hasn’t turned much so far.
Also, we are about to watch Kevin O’Brien and ABdV play in the same match!
Weather news: It’s dry but cloudy and fairly warm. The pitch is dry but, according to Matthew Hayden, flat and unlikely to offer any swing. It’s a big ground this with plenty of twos and threes on offer for batsmen who like to nurdle it around. Toss coming any minute now.
Preamble
Morning folks. Played two, won two. A one hundred per cent record so far in the World Cup, exactly as we pundits predicted and it’s going swimmingly for the men in green. Their opening bowlers rocked the West Indies’ top order before their batsmen chased down 300+ with ease, then they held their nerve to beat a team full of players from the subcontinent in a thriller.
Cue the pull-back-and-reveal: but enough about Ireland! Their opponents today, South Africa, haven’t quite convinced yet and have an inferior win-rate of 66.7%. They’re ahead in the group but only on net run rate and the Irish have a game in hand. Make no mistake, this is a massive match that promises to be a taught, edge-of-your-seat thriller!
Or it promises to be over in a couple of hours, should Ireland bat first and Dale Steyn find himself in the mood to assassinate a few batsmen. Or, as a contest at least, if AB de Villiers decides to be cruel and continue the recent form that has seen him score the fastest 50, the fastest 100 and the fastest 150 in ODI history, all in the last two months.
You know what? I am struggling to hype this one up: those Sky Sports football people make it look easier than it is, you know. Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals arguably rest lightest of all on this match and South Africa can probably afford to lose even though they almost certainly won’t.
But then consider this: we’re either going to watch an utterly dominant performance with wickets and cool-looking shots aplenty, or we’re going to see the Associate nation give one hell of a fight and blow another raspberry at the ICC and their decision to reduce the 2019 tournament to 10 teams.
A one-sided mismatch? Probably. But then it’s a probable-one-sided-mismatch that’s a win-win situation for those of us watching. And those come along about as frequently as England series wins!
Play begins at 3.30am GMT, or 2.30pm local time. I’ll bring you toss and team news shortly. In the meantime, here is today’s musical entertainment courtesy of my favourite album of the year so far.
