The first of two T20 internationals between Ireland and South Africa takes place in Bristol on Wednesday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the betting.
Bristol will host both T20's in this series and we start with the squads.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker.
South Africa: David Miller (Captain), Aiden Markram, Rassie Van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorious, Andile Phehlukwayo, Quinton de Kock, Hendrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kasigo Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
Recent Form
Ireland have just completed a 3 match home series against New Zealand and they lost all 3 matches, the first by 31 runs, the second by 88 runs and the third by 6 wickets. Towards the end of June Ireland hosted India and they lost both matches by margins of 7 wickets and then 4 runs.
South Africa have just won a 3 match series in England 2-1. They lost the first contest by 41 runs at this venue but stormed back to square things up with a 58 run victory in Cardiff before coming out on top in the decider by 90 runs at Southampton on Sunday.
South Africa were in India in June for a 5 match series. They won the first 2 matches, lost the third and fourth and no result was possible in what would have been a decider and the series was drawn.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met just 3 times which came in a series staged in Ireland in July 2021. The Proteas won the first match by 33 runs, the second by 42 runs and the third by 49 runs.
County Ground, Bristol
The most recent T20 at Bristol came just last week and England beat South Africa by 41 runs. England posted 234/6 (Ngidi 5/39) and the Proteas replied with 193/8 (Stubbs 72 off 28 balls, Hendriks (57 off 33).
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The Betting - 1st T20
At the time of writing Ireland are 7/2 to win the match and South Africa are 1 / 5
Sterling is 3/1 to top score for Ireland and de Kock is 28/10 to do likewise for South Africa.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
The Proteas T20 side are in good shape and having just won the series in England it will be a major surprise if they don't follow up with a series win here.
Bristol is a small ground and it rained sixes in the England v SA match staged here so I will focus on bat rather than ball. Rilee Rossouw gets the nod to be top SA bat and Harry Tector is a speculative choice to top score for Ireland.
Bets: Top SA bat Rilee Rossouw at 9/2 at BetXchange
Top Ireland bat Harry Tector at 9/2 at BetXchange
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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