MAMMOTH TOTAL :
After a shocking defeat in 2nd ODI, this game was a must win game for the proteas. As expected De Kock was back in the side. The skipper Bavuma elected to bat first to set a target and put pressure on Ireland and their openers exactly did the same. They lost their first wicket only after scoring 225 runs. Meanwhile, both their openers reached the 100 run mark. De Kock was the first one to fall on 120 as he started accelerating. Malan continued smacking the Irish bowlers all around the park. South Africa ended their innings at 346 for the loss of 4 wickets. The Ireland bowlers never tested the South African batsmen. Only Simi Singh and Josh Little were the bowlers who had an economy under 6. Two wickets for Little and one for Simi Singh. Their most experienced bowler Dockrell was taken to the cleaners ( economy 12 RPO )
IRELAND'S REPLY:
They had the worst possible start to their innings by losing 3 wickets for just 27 on the board. Then the little partnership between Dockrell and Tector made their ship steady but it never moved forward but Curtis Campher and Simi Singh tried their level best to pull off a miracle. In the process, they both brought up their 50 and 100 respectively. But in the end, they eventually fell short by 70 runs. The South African bowlers bowled to their potential. Both Phehlukwayo and Shamsi picked up 3 wickets a piece .
RECORDS GALORE :
1. De Kock and Malan's partnership was the fifth highest opening partnership for South Africa.
2. This was their first 200+ run partnership for the first wicket since 2000.
3. This was their first 100 run opening stand since the 2019 world cup.
4. Malan scored the5th highest score by a South African in ODIs.
5. He faced the 3rd most number of deliveries in ODI innings (169)
6. De Kock became the 5th wicket keeper to score more than 10,000 international runs.
7. De Kock was the quickest keeper to achieve this feat.
8. Simi Singh became the first player to score a hundred in this format while batting at no.8 or lower.
DISAPPOINTMENTS :
Paul Stirling was the biggest disappointment as far this series is concerned because the form which he was in leading into this series created a lot of expectations. He finished the series with 51 runs, averaging 17 with a strike rate of 52.5 which is way below his standards.
For South Africa though, resting De Kock in the first two games was the difference between leveling and winning the series.
TAKE AWAYS :
An entertaining series ends in a draw with a fitting finale.
Even though they lost the 3rd game, Ireland would consider this as a victory because this is the best result they've produced against a leading test playing nation in the One Day format.
But South Africa definitely would've aimed a whitewash before the start of the series. But they did well to win the final game and denied a dark page in their cricketing history.
LEADING RUN SCORER : J MALAN ( 261 )
LEADING WICKET TAKER : PHEHLUKWAYO ( 6 )
MAN OF THE SERIES : J MALAN
With the ODIs concluded, these two teams will face off against each other for the first time in the shortest version of the game in another couple of days.
