ICC World Cup 2015: South Africa v Ireland - Stats of the match

Gopal P

“I'm confident we will cope. We have our own individual plans for each of the [South African players] and hopefully we see the back of him [AB de Villiers] early,” said Ireland captain William Porterfield ahead of the match.Remember that this is the mighty Proteas, and, as expected, the Irish plans were sent for a walk in the garden. Right from the word go, Ireland had little going their way, including the toss. South Africa decided to bat first to exploit the mediocre Irish bowling attack. After losing Quinton de Kock early with the score at 12, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis steadied the ship by adding 247 runs for the second wicket. To top that, both the batsmen went on to score their tons with Amla taking the honours of winning the ‘Man of the Match’.At the end of 50 overs, with the middle-order adding necessary spice to the scoreboard, South Africa amassed a formidable total of 411/4. Absence of an ‘ABD show’ was the only low point of the match. Second innings of the match saw South African pacers Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel share 9 Irish scalps among them. Apart from a noteworthy maiden fifty scored by Andrew Balbirnie, who shared an 81-run stand with Kevin O’Brien, Ireland had nothing much to offer.South Africa won the match by a massive 201-run margin and, with 6 points, now top the Pool B leaderboard alongside India.

#8 First World Cup wicket for ABD

When the South African fast bowlers had done enough damage to the Ireland side, their skipper AB de Villiers, for a change, decided to try his hand at the ball. Bingo! He got his first World Cup scalp bowling John Mooney through the gate This was only his fourth ODI wicket.

#7 ABD: Involved in most 400+ totals

In today’s game, AB de Villiers saw his team pile up yet another 400+ score in ODIs. He along with the other players Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag have been involved in four 400+ totals, which is a world record in itself.

#6 400 in consecutive matches

South Africa is the first team to make a total 400 or more in consecutive matches. They've scored 400 three times this year, too. And they have five 400+ scores in ODIs: the same number as India.

In their previous outing against West Indies, they made 408 in 50 overs at the SCG. They reprised it with a 411 against Ireland today at the Manuka Oval. Man! This World Cup is already turning out to be a run festival.

#5 Most 150s in a World Cup

There was so much hue and cry over the rules bending towards the batsmen in the build up to the World Cup. This tournament, standing a testimony to this rant, has seen four 150+ individual scores in the first two weeks itself. This is the most for any World Cup. None of the previous World Cups had seen more than two.

Chris Gayle (WI): 215 against Zimbabwe

TM Dilshan (SL): 161 against Bangladesh

AB de Villiers (SA): 162* against West Indies

Hasim Amla (SA): 159 against Ireland

#4 Most 150s by a South African

The 31-year-old Hasim Amla became the first South African batsman to cross 150+ scores thrice in his career. The record for the most number of 150+ scores is held by Sachin Tendulkar 5 times.

Most 150+ scores in ODIs:

S Tendulkar 5

S Jayasuriya/C Gayle 4

V Richards/B Lara/A Strauss/T Dilshan/Hashim Amla 3

#3 Highest second wicket stand for South Africa

The 247-run stand between Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla is the highest second-wicket partnership for South Africa in ODIs. Both the batsmen went on to score tons (Du Plessis 109 and Amla 159) during the course of the partnership.

#2 Hashim Amla: Fastest to reach 20 ODI tons

Hasim Amla, the rock-solid South African opener, en route to his 159, became the quickest player on the planet to reach 20 ODI tons. He was 25 innings faster than Virat Kohli who took 133 matches to reach the milestone. He notched up 159 runs off 128 balls in todays match.

#1 Kevin O\'Brien: Most capped Ireland player

Kevin O’Brien, who is 30 years old, has played 87 ODIs and 37 T20Is so far for Ireland: that makes him the most-capped Ireland player. This poster boy of Ireland, who is known for his heroics against England last World Cup, was awarded the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award in 2013.

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Edited by Staff Editor