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South Africa will take on Ireland in the first ODI of a three-match series in Dublin on Sunday, July 11. South Africa are coming off an impressive T20I series win over the West Indies. They beat the Caribbean side 3-2 in a tightly-contested series.
Ireland, on the other hand, visited the Netherlands last month for a three-match ODI series, which they ended up losing 1-2. Prior to that, they went down 0-3 to Afghanistan in the UAE.
Speaking ahead of the ODI series against South Africa, Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie admitted the Proteas would undoubtedly go in as the favorites but asserted that his side also have match-winners in the team.
Ireland are yet to win an ODI against South Africa. The two teams have faced each other in five matches so far, with the Proteas winning all the games.
Ireland squad: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, William Porterfield, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Beuran Hendricks
Here are three players who can be the captain or vice-captain of your Dream11 team for the first ODI between Ireland and South Africa.
#3 Paul Stirling (Ireland)
Paul Stirling is a legend of Ireland cricket, and their most consistent batsman over the last few seasons. Stirling made his ODI debut back in 2008 and has featured in 128 matches so far. He has amassed 4823 runs at an impressive average of 39.53 with 12 hundreds and 26 fifties.
Following the retirement of Kevin O'Brien, there will be additional responsibility on the 30-year-old to deliver against South Africa. Stirling can be a match-winner on his day as evident from his 128-ball 142 against England last year, which saw Ireland chase down 329 in Southampton.
South Africa will be wary of the Stirling threat when they take on Ireland in the ODI series. Apart from being a dangerous batsman, Stirling is also a handy off-spinner. He has 43 one-day scalps to his name with a best of 6 for 55.
#2 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will pose a major threat to Ireland in the one-day series. If he gets it right, Rabada’s threatening bouncers and searing yorkers might be too much to handle for the Ireland batsmen, who are not used to playing such high-quality bowlers.
Rabada will be high on confidence after his impressive performances in the West Indies. He was the leading wicket-taker in the two-match Test series, claiming 11 scalps at an average of 11.45. In the five-match T20I series that followed, he again did well, picking up seven wickets at an average of 24.29, although he did go for a few runs.
The South African fast bowler has a wonderful ODI record. In 77 matches, he has picked up 119 wickets at an average of 27.67 and an economy rate of under five. He is a wicket-taker and a genuine match-winner in the format.
#1 Quinton de Kock (South Africa)
Being relieved of captaincy seems to have done the trick for South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock. The 28-year-old left-hander had a memorable series in the West Indies, both in the Test and the T20I format. He will be keen to carry on his impressive run in Ireland as well.
De Kock finished as the leading run-scorer in the Test as well as the T20I series against West Indies. The southpaw hammered an unbeaten 141 in the first Test in St Lucia and followed it up with 96 in the second Test at the same venue.
In the T20I series that followed, he registered scores of 37, 26, 72, 60 and 60. De Kock finished the series with a tally of 255 runs at a strike rate of 141.67 and an excellent average of 51. Having gone through a rough patch in between, De Kock will be keen to make the most of his rich vein of form.
The left-hander has an amazing record in ODIs. In 123 matches, he has amassed 5235 runs at an average of 44.74 with 15 hundreds. If the South African batsman gets going against Ireland, the bowlers could have a tough time stopping him.
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