Ismail, Luus lead the line as Proteas women demolish Ireland in opening ODI

Proteas women proved too strong for Ireland in the opening One-Day International at the Clontarf Cricket Ground, as the visitors claimed a dominant nine-wicket victory on Saturday in Dublin.

The experienced pair of Shabnim Ismail (3/16) and Suné Luus (3/16) were the picks of the bowlers for South Africa, leading the charge to help dismiss Ireland for just 69 all out after 27.2 overs before the Proteas made light work of the chase.

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The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, and was put under immense pressure early on before Ismail claimed the first two of the three scalps to fall alongside her opening partner, Ayabonga Khaka (2/6) to leave Ireland shell-shocked at 4/3 in the fifth over.

Proceedings didn’t get any better for the Irish outfit despite the best efforts of Shauna Kavanagh (15) and Sophie MacMahon (13) as Luus, Nadine de Klerk (1/12) and Raisibe Ntozakhe (1/15) combined to great effect to help restrict Ireland to 44/7.

Georgina Dempsey (19*) produced some lusty blows in a brief cameo before South Africa finished off the job to bowl out Ireland for 69, their lowest total since 2014 against South Africa in Doha.

In response, although the Proteas lost top-order batter Laura Wolvaardt (8) in the fifth over, that wicket turned out to be the last joy for the home side as Andrie Steyn (21*) and the in-form Lara Goodall (32*) measuredly chased down the target, dispatching six boundaries on the way.

The pair put on a controlled half-century stand worth 55 runs to help guide South Africa over the line with a mammoth 34 overs remaining, while Dempsey was the sole wicket-taker for Ireland. 

Scores in brief:

Ireland 69 all-out in 27.2 overs (Dempsey 19,