Ireland vs South Africa Third ODI: Best Bets & Prediction

The Proteas will look for a series whitewash when they take on Ireland on Monday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in UAE. South Africa has already claimed the series, winning the 1st ODI by 139 runs and the 2nd by 174 runs. Despite the series loss, Ireland will aim for a morale-boosting win in the final game. Have a look at the prediction and best bets for this game.

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

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South Africa put up a formidable 343/4 in their 50 overs in the second ODI, led by standout contributions from Ryan Rickleton (40), Kyle Verreynne (67), and an impressive 112 off 81 balls by Tristan Stubbs, marking his first international hundred. Stubbs showcased his usual powerful and aggressive style, while Wiaan Mulder chipped in with 43 runs.

All six South African bowlers picked up at least one wicket, with Lizaad Williams taking three, and Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin each taking two. Despite their dominance, South Africa’s bowlers haven’t faced sustained pressure, giving their bench a good opportunity to perform.

Ireland’s bowlers struggled, with only Andy McBrine managing to keep things tight (1/43), while the rest were expensive. Gavin Hoey picked up his first ODI wicket, but their batting effort fell flat, with both openers gone by the third over, and number eleven Craig Young ending as their top-scorer.

With injuries to Tony de Zorzi and captain Temba Bavuma, South Africa may rotate their lineup for the final ODI, possibly giving Matthew Breetzke and Jason Smith opportunities. Ireland will also be eager to make adjustments as they aim to end the series on a high.

Ireland haven’t showed any signs that they could pull off an upset so back the Proteas to win at 1.16.

Players to Watch: Bjorn Fortuin has had a tireless task in ODIs. He made his debut in 2020, but half of his ten career ODIs have come in the last month. As an understudy to Keshav Maharaj – and third-choice behind Tabraiz Shamsi, opportunities don’t come often. He has only gone wicketless once in nine innings, taking two on five different occasions. Perhaps he can add more value with the bat. This isn’t the series to make an impression on either front, but it’s nice to see him keep plugging away.

Paul Stirling in ODIs this year has been a low-scoring affair: scores of 5, 2 and 5, with one 50 against Afghanistan in the middle of it. He’s not their worst-performing batter and is still only 34 years old. A paucity of opening alternatives also helps him, but he could do with some runs soon.

Key Stats

South Africa have a 8-1 record against Ireland in ODIs.

The average score batting first in the Sheikh Zayed Stadium is 243.

Andy Balbirnie averages 24.2 and strikes at 63.4 against left-arm pace in ODIs.

Mark Adair has an economy of 4,82 but averages 44.4 in ODI powerplays.

Ryan Rickelton is in good form: across formats, he has scores of 76, 36, 91 and 40 this series.

Ottneil Baartman has figures of 1-24 and 1-8 after making his ODI debut in this series (economy 3.20, average 16). 

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