Welcome to our live coverage of the first T20I between Ireland and South Africa in Abu Dhabi on Friday (September 27, 2024). South Africa are entering the two-match series after suffering a 0-3 T20I whitewash to West Indies and then a historic ODI series loss to Afghanistan. For Ireland, this will be their first T20 tournament after the disappointing World Cup campaign. Follow the live cricket scores and ball-by-ball commentary from the IRE vs RSA game, right here.
The Proteas skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to field first.
Playing XIs
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.
The series was supposed to be hosted by Ireland, but is being held in the United Arab Emirates instead due to what the Ireland board's chief executive Warren Deutrom called "infrastructure constraints". Ireland do not have a permanent home stadium and have to pay rent and bring in temporary facilities each time they play at home.
