ODI cricket: Skipper Paul Stirling's 88 helps Ireland beat South Africa and end losing streak on high

Third ODI, Abu Dhabi

Ireland 284 (50 overs): Stirling 88, Tector 60; Williams 4-56

South Africa 215 (46.1 overs): Smith 91; Young 4-40, Hume 3-39

Ireland won by 69 runs

Scoreboard

Ireland beat South Africa for only the second time in a one-day international as Paul Stirling's 88 helped his side to a 69-run win in the last meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Ireland's only previous win over South Africa in this format came at Malahide in Dublin in July 2021.

The Proteas won the opener by 139 runs last Wednesday and secured the series with a 174-run triumph two days later.

Ireland were bowled out for less than 168 runs in both defeats, but had set a target of 285 runs for their opponents after the win.

Captain Stirling top-scored with 88, achieving his 30th ODI half-century in an innings that included eight fours and three sixes.

He and fellow opener Andrew Balbirnie formed a century partnership before Lizaad Williams removed the latter for 45 for the first of his four wickets.

As Ireland steadily increased their score, Harry Tector added 60 before being bowled out in the last over of the innings.

South Africa's response began disastrously as two Mark Adair wickets with the new ball contributed to a 10-3 start.

Kyle Verreynne and Tristan Stubbs brought a measure of stability, but by the time Craig Young took the latter's coveted wicket for 20 they had fallen to 79-5.

After a duck on his ODI debut against Afghanistan last month, Jason Smith got into a groove to provide sustained resistance but failed on 91 off 93 balls when he was caught by Adair on the boundary off the bowling of Graham Hume.

South Africa's challenge came down to the last wicket when Hume Lungi took Ngidi into the hands of Lorcan Tucker.

This was Ireland's final game in a year which also saw them secure Test victories over Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

And Monday's triumph – coupled with a maiden T20 win over South Africa – ensured they were victorious in two of their five games on the trip.