South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first against Ireland in the first of the two T20Is between the two sides at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium. (More Cricket News)
Check out the Playing 11s for both the teams.
IRE vs RSA Playing 11 for 1st T20I
Ireland: Paul Stirling(c), Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Neil Rock(wk), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Matthew Humphreys, Craig Young, Benjamin White
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton(wk), Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Patrick Kruger, Bjorn Fortuin, Nqaba Peter, Lizaad Williams, Ottneil Baartman
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram said at the toss that it was a big positive for his team that they have been staying in the UAE for some time now. They are more acclimatised to the conditions.
The Proteas come into the series on the back of a disappointing 1-2 loss against Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in the UAE.
Only six players - Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Ottniel Baartman and Bjorn Fortuin - from the T20 World Cup squad of the Proteas are part of the Ireland series.
Ireland have dropped the veteran Andrew Balbirnie from the squad after he could only muster 22 runs in three innings in their disappointing T20 World Cup campaign.
