South Africa vs. Ireland: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Cricket World Cup Preview
South Africa and Ireland will do battle in Canberra, Australia on Tuesday, with second place in Pool B of the 2015 Cricket World Cup on the line. Defending champions India may be out of range for now, but that second ticket to the quarter-finals could be the key to a deep run in the tournament.
New Zealand and Australia have dominated Pool A so far and will want to be avoided at all cost in the knockout stages, but providing India don't falter in the group stages, one of the teams playing on Tuesday will likely face the daunting prospect of facing one of the co-hosts in the next round.
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The Proteas are the favourites but can't underestimate Ireland, who showed against West Indies their bowling attack is the real deal.
Date: Tuesday, February 3
Time: 2:30 p.m. local time/3.30 a.m. GMT
Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra
TV info and live stream: Sky Sports (UK) and ESPN (U.S.) carry full coverage of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, with mobile coverage available via the Sky Go app and ESPN Cricket 2015.
Preview
All statistics are courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo.
Superb bowling will meet explosive batting on Tuesday, as both teams come into the match sporting excellent figures in one of both categories.
Ireland's numbers are somewhat aided by the fact they've faced the United Arab Emirates and West Indies, two teams who have struggled with the bat at certain times, but there's no denying Paul Stirling's 3.75 economy rate is an incredible feat.
IPL side Rajasthan Royals couldn't help but notice how phenomenal his display against UAE was in Ireland's last outing:
He wasn't flanked by spinner Andy McBrine in that match, but the youngster put together a fantastic performance against the Windies, giving up just 26 runs.
Their task on Tuesday won't be easy—JP Duminy and AB de Villiers lead the entire tournament in batting average, with 121 and 108.50, respectively.
Duminy was absent for the Proteas' meeting against West Indies, but it hardly mattered. De Villiers scored a ridiculous 162 runs in just 66 deliveries, literally outscoring the entire West Indies team, via Ladbrokes:
There aren't enough superlatives in the world to express how good he was in that match, so working as a pundit for Sky Sports, Marcus Trescothick kept it simple:
De Villiers and Duminy steal the headlines for South Africa, but David Miller (90 average after three matches) and Faf du Plessis (141 runs in three) are no slouches either.
Speaking to Cricket Ireland, Kevin O'Brien likes his team's chances, however:
"I think the batting unit is in good form with everyone getting a score in the first two games, so we’re looking forward to Tuesday’s game.
Of course a few things to work on with the ball, most notably in the death and the powerplays, but we’ve talked as a bowling group on what we need to address; we’ve got three days now before Tuesday’s game.
"
O'Brien leads the Irish side with an average of 96, but only one man has scored double-digit runs so far—Ed Joyce, with 141. The team has used a platoon-approach toward scoring runs, something that should suit them well against the Proteas' bowlers, who specialise in taking wickets, not limiting damage.
Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir both rank in the top 20 for wickets taken, but Vernon Philander sports the lowest economy, at 4.08—Stirling and McBrine both better that mark.
Keeping things close would be a wonderful feat for the Irish, regardless of the eventual outcome. On paper, South Africa's superior star power should be too much for the Irish to handle, and while their bowling has been good, it's untested against the likes of De Villiers and Company.
Ireland deserve all the respect they're currently getting, but it's hard to imagine another upset. Expect South Africa to make a statement and put themselves among the tournament favourites once again with a hard-fought, but ultimately clear win.
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