Ireland vs South Africa, 1st T20I at Abu Dhabi, IRE vs SA, Sep 27 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11:15pm That will be all from us for tonight. These sides will be back at it on Sunday, with Ireland fighting to level the series. Until then, this is goodbye from Chetan and myself. Take care, folks!

Ryan Rickelton, Player of the Match: It was a good wicket but we knew it was going to swing a bit. Wanted to get through that initial phase. New ball can bring runs but also bring wickets. Once it stopped swinging, we decided (to attack more). To get to fifty, it was a nice feeling. Reeza and I always have a bit of competition, nice to have a bit of a go at each other and nice that he could score a few too tonight (smiles). (On trying to finish the game early) We are looking to play really positively. We had ten wickets in the shed, so if we could win as quickly - that was the goal.

Aiden Markram, South Africa captain: Nice to win, been testing times for us. You never take wins for granted and the boys played really well tonight. We finished off really well (with the ball) and the opening partnership was quite special. (On Hendricks) He has been our T20 player of the year for two years on the bounce and people forget those sorts of things. He always does it in his unique way and really chuffed for him to get that score.

Paul Stirling, Ireland captain: We were looking at maybe 190-200. They bowled really well, snuffed us out at the end. After 15 overs, we were well-placed. We probably would have liked to go on and get that 190 score. 170 turned out to be not enough. It is hard to grip the ball with the sweat. The ball slips, a few full tosses come and the batters punished us. We will have to see what to do on Sunday. Good to see some of the youngsters come out and play the way they did. People who have not played a lot of international cricket turned up tonight.

11pm A commanding victory, set up by South Africa's openers, both of whom got fifties. Rickelton did the early running and took advantage at the start, with Hendricks joining soon after. What would have pleased South Africa most, though, was how they kept at it through the middle overs, ultimately putting together a 136--run stand. Breetzke and Markram also spent some time out in the middle and this, arguably, would have been what the Proteas' ideal batting night would have looked like.

Not a lot to celebrate from a bowling POV for Ireland. Humphreys was tidy but apart from him, almost everyone came in for rough treatment. They were unable to hit their lines and lenghts too, and that is something they will need to rectify, especially if they are asked to defend a total again on Sunday.

Mark Adair to bowl what could be the last over of this game. Markram on strike

Just 17 needed now

Here's White for his third