Ireland's Simi Singh Becomes First Batsman To Score An ODI Hundred Batting At No.8 Or Lower

An exciting 3-match ODI series between hosts Ireland and South Africa came to an end on Friday with both teams sharing a win each after the first match was washed out. By the end of the series, it was Simi Singh, Irelan’s bowling all-rounder, who hogged the limelight by becoming the first batsman ever to score a century while batting at number 8 or lower in ODI cricket.

Simi Singh smashed 100 unbeaten runs off 91 balls in an innings laced with 14 fours. But too much was asked from the right-hander as Ireland lost by 70 runs in their chase of 347.

Coming in to bat at 92/6 in the 19th over, with the match effectively over for the hosts, and with nothing much more to lose, Simi Singh counter-attacked the South Africa bowling attack which included the likes of Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj, Andile Phehlukwayo, and Tabraiz Shamsi to end up at 100*, but saw his partners fell at the other end.  Barring Curtis Campher (54 off 54), no other batsman managed to cross the 30-run mark in the chase.

Simi Singh surpassed the previous record of 95* by shared by Chris Woakes (versus Sri Lanka in 2016) and Sam Curran (versus India in 2021).

I have to look at the reasons why we were flat: Mark Boucher

South Africa came back from defeat in the second ODI on Tuesday to beat Ireland comprehensively on Friday. Openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock hit respective hundreds to propel South Africa to a huge first-innings total.

Head coach Mark Boucher felt the lack of rest time between their T20I series win against West Indies and the ODI series against Ireland was one of the principal reasons for their disappointing show in the second ODI which they lost.

“I have to look at the reasons why we were flat. It could be that coming off a good win against the West Indian team – usually you get a bit of time to take that in and get away for a while – maybe a week or two and we didn’t have that opportunity. As soon as we got that win, guys were packing and we got onto a plane and we flew for two days and got back into another bubble,” Boucher said after the ODI series concluded. 

They will stay for another week in Ireland for the 3-match T20I series starting Monday.

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