Following an impressive win over Ireland in the first game of 2-match series on Wednesday, South African captain Keshav Maharaj praised the game between the two sides and also said that healthy competition is good for team.
“Woke up with a niggle, hopefully, he will be fine on Friday [on David Miller]. Good atmosphere, boys did well. The guys who got the opportunity really put their hands up during the England series, healthy competition for places, which is good, it makes the coaches’ job tougher.”
“Tucker and Dockrell did well, but the bowlers stuck to their plans and came up trumps. A day of rest tomorrow,” said Maharaj in a post-match presentation.
However, it was not an easy win for Ireland as they fought hard and eventually lost the game by 21 runs in a high-run chase game.
Splendid knocks from Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram first helped the team to score high and then Keshav Maharaj the skipper himself and the speedster restricted the Irish side to help their side win the series opener.
South Africa after winning the toss opted to bat first and put up a score of 211 runs with the help of Reeza Hendricks 74 off 53 balls and Markram’s brilliant 56 off 27. Although it was Tristan Stubbs and Dwaine Pretorius, who took the team forward in the match by playing small cameos of 24 and 21, respectively.
Ireland, however, fought back strongly and posted some good runs in their 20-over quota but felt 21 runs short of winning the first game. Lorcan Tucker scored the most runs for his innings with 78 off 38 balls. While George Dockrell give it his all to help his side secure the victory but his blistering 43 off 28 wasn’t enough to get Ireland through the game.
With this win, South Africa took the lead of 1-0 in the series.
