IRE vs RSA 2nd Match Prediction

IRE vs RSA Team Previews

Ireland

This series was intended to be a home fixture for Ireland. However, this series will now be played at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi to resolve infrastructure and cost issues. In the series' first game, the Irish men raised their second-highest score against South Africa. However, this score was not sufficient to score a win against the more seasoned opposition of South Africa. The Irish innings ran into a rut after most of their accelerations could not get the results. But a 59-run stand between Neil Rock and Curtis Campher resurrected the innings.

Ross Adair was not expected to play in this contest, but an injury sustained by Lorcan Tucker during the training paved the way for him in the playing eleven. He hit some lusty blows during his effort. Ireland was 63 for two at the end of the powerplay. Curtis Camper was playing his 100th T20I game for Ireland and took his time to get his eye in. After 18 overs, Ireland was 163 for five. They were looking for a total of over 185 runs at that stage. However, South African pacers controlled the flow of runs in the last two overs and kept the score to 171 runs. 

South Africa

While replying to the Irish batting effort, South Africans made light work of their chase. Their batting effort was the highest-ever successful run chase in Abu Dhabi. They kept their unbeaten record against Ireland intact with this game. This venue in UAE was more helpful to the South Africans as they had acquired more experience in these conditions after playing a series against Afghanistan last week. So, they have adapted more readily to the dry and slow wickets in the UAE.

South Africans had also adjusted to the heat demands in this part of the world. However, the Abu Dabi venue has more pace and bounce than Sharjah. The South Africans used slower balls as their Irish opposition struggled with the moisture and dew in the ground. The big total raised at the Abu Dhabi venue could have been even bigger if not for the wickets picked up by the South African bowlers, which allowed the Ireland score to fall within reasonable limits.