Ireland vs South Africa, IRE vs SA , Today Match Prediction

IRE vs RSA Match Prediction & Analysis

After the T20I series ended with Ireland and South Africa sharing the honours, the focus shifts to the ODI series.

Ireland will go into the series with renewed confidence that they can topple a quality side like South Africa if they stick to their plans and play fearlessly. Now that the opportunity to add a T20 series trophy to their cabinet has gone begging, South Africa will look to quickly regroup and start prepping for the champions trophy to be held in Pakistan in 2025. A series loss to Afghanistan a few weeks ago, over at Sharjah, is a hard pill to swallow and the South African lads will be still hurting.

But Ireland is a different challenge and South Africa, with 8 wins from 9 matches, will feel confident having had the upper hand over Ireland for many years. But they know they can't rest easy because that gap is slowly but surely starting to close with the young and exciting Irish cricketers making big strikes on the international scene. Let’s see what the first match has in store for us.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Ireland Preview

Ireland managed their first ever victory over South Africa in this format the last time these sides went head to head in the ODI series in Dublin in 2021.

Victories like that and the one they just notched in the T20 series here bring a monumental shift in the way an associate side like Ireland approach challenging a heavyweight like South Africa. The Irish team hasn’t undergone much changes since that series, with the core of the team still intact. Paul Stirling has taken the reins and done reasonably well, winning 5 out of 8 matches that he captained. Harry Tector averaging 58.5 and striking at 91 has been the standout Irish player in this time period, with five 100s from 33 games.

Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie and Andy McBrine have scored some useful runs at the top of the order, too. George Dockrell known for his clean ball striking has made more than 700 runs from 33 games with the highest of 91*.

Curtis Campher and Lorcan Tucker haven’t been able to maintain consistent run scoring, but they’ve loads of talent. With 42 wickets from 33 games, Mark Adair has relished leading the attack from the front.

He has found excellent support in Craig Young and Andy McBrine, who have snared 30 and 28 wickets respectively in this period. Josh Little, who has made his mark in the white ball format, is not featuring in this series.

IRE Over/Under Betting Tips

Ireland Predicted Playing XI:

Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (c), Curtis Campher, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, Craig Young, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume.

Ireland Actual Playing XI:

Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector, Paul Stirling, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Stephen Doheny, Mark Adair, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Craig Young

South Africa Preview

South Africa’s bowling attack may have a lot of talent but they’re short on experience.

Only Lungi Ngidi (33 matches) and Andile Phelukwayo (18 matches) have more than 10 caps in from the squad that’s been selected to represent the Proteas in this series. Bjorn Fortuin (7), Nandre Burger (5) , Lizaad Williams (4), Wiaan Mulder (8) and the newcomer Nqabayomzi Peter (2) have a combined 26 caps between them.

And Ottneil Baartman who has shown his worth in the T20 scene has yet to make his debut in the 50 over format. The inexperience of that bowling line-up shines through, making them vulnerable to counterattack. The batting group also has several new faces, with only Rassie Van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne featuring in 10 matches or more.

Tony de Zorzi has had a good start though batting at the top for the Proteas, making 344 runs from 8 matches at an average of 49.14.

Ryan Rickleton and Tristan Stubbs are still finding their feet in this format, and would be looking to make this opportunity count. The Saffers stocks are quite fresh. But they’d be building the inexperience of their players don’t put their team at a disadvantage as they gear up to face a far settled Irish team that can beat any top nation on their day.

SA Over/Under Betting Tips

South Africa Predicted Playing XI:

Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickleton, Rassie van der Dussen, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne(w), Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Nqaba Peter, Lungi Ngidi.

South Africa Actual Playing XI:

Temba Bavuma, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Ottneil Baartman, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

Abu Dhabi wickets always bring both batsmen and bowlers into play. It’s not a road, but teams have put sizeable totals on board here too. Stats suggest that any score over 250 batting first could be a real challenge for the chasing team, with the teams chasing only managing to win on 3 out of 14 occasions. The weather forecast for the match looks quite good and it’s highly likely that we would have a full match barring delay due to any unforeseen circumstances.

IRE vs RSA Pitch Report

The ODI leg of this series will also feature the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Paul Stirling, the Irish captain, has plundered the runs here scoring 263 runs from 3 matches, with two centuries to his name including a high score of 131*.

Total Over/Under Betting Tips

Toss: To Bat

19 out of the 26 matches played here since 2014 have been won by the team batting first, which goes to show there’s a definite advantage to winning the toss and batting first. And we reckon the team winning the toss would be happy to have a bat first.