The SA team, who won the T20 series 2-0, will face Ireland in three 50-over games.
Playing their first one-day international (ODI) since they lost to hosts India in last month’s World Cup final, captain Laura Wolvaardt says the Proteas are excited to build on their T20 series victory over Ireland when they turn out against the tourists in a 50-over match in East London on Saturday (10am start).
Three players in the 15-member national squad for the three-match ODI campaign against Ireland – comeback veteran Dané van Niekerk, top-order batter Faye Tunnicliffe and 19-year-old all-rounder Seshnie Naidu – did not compete at the global showpiece.
“It’s a bit of a new-look squad compared to what we had at the World Cup… and I’m looking forward to seeing the depth we have within the country,” Wolvaardt said.
“Some youngsters will be getting great opportunities in this series, so I’m looking forward to seeing them play.
“I think Ireland are a very good side, and they’ll definitely be bouncing back hard after the T20 series, so we’ll have to be at our best.”
Dominant T20 series victory
While the third and final T20 match was rained out in Benoni this week, the Proteas earned a 2-0 series victory over Ireland.
In both games that were played in the short format, the SA team racked up more than 200 runs – something the Proteas had only once previously achieved – and Wolvaardt was pleased with the all-round performances.
In the first fixture in Cape Town, which the hosts won by 105 runs, Wolvaardt hit an unbeaten century, while all-rounder Suné Luus made 81 runs and took four wickets.
And in the second match, which saw the Proteas coasting to a 65-run victory in Paarl, Tunnicliffe made 51 runs (her maiden T20 International half-century), Luus contributed 37, earning the Player of the Series award.
Van Niekerk also impressed, hitting 21 not out in the series opener and a valuable 41 in the second fixture, in her first international appearances since returning from retirement.”Getting 200s back-to-back… is very impressive,” Wolvaardt said.
“I think we had some great performances from individuals as well. Suné was obviously the Player of the Series, Dané has come back and she played pretty well. And we had a lot of different batters chipping in to push those 200 scores, so we’re very pleased with that.
“Bowling-wise as well, we had a couple of opportunities with the ball and I think the spinners bowled pretty well at Boland Park (in Paarl).”
