Last Updated on 3 months by Charbel Coorey

IRE vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | IRE vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | Ireland vs South Africa 1st T20I Key Players | Malahide Pitch Report

After an eventful ODI series, which saw Ireland create history, attention now moves to a T20I series that is important for both sides. The home side will be keen to continue on from their promising showing in the ODI series, as preparations for the T20 World Cup continues to ramp up. Ireland are drawn alongside Namibia, The Netherlands and struggling Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup Group Stage, so the more confidence they can build ahead of the tournament, the better.

South Africa are coming off an excellent T20I series victory in West Indies. And, if you want to know just how difficult it is to beat such a power-packed Windies side, just ask Australia. The return of Quinton de Kock took South Africa to another level in the third ODI, with Janneman Malan achieving the fourth-highest individual score by a South African batsman in the same game.

However, despite the recent good form, the Proteas still aren’t the finished package. Their finishing with the bat is an area for improvement, as is their death bowling. So, they will use this series as more important game time to get their combinations and execution right ahead of the T20 World Cup.

This will be the first ever T20 International between the two sides, and here’s hoping it’s a beauty.

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

Ireland:

• Andy Balbirnie enjoyed a terrific ODI series, where he scored a half-century and century. He has three 50+ scores in four internationals vs South Africa, so he will be hoping he can transfer that form to T20Is.
• Kevin O’Brien is back in Ireland colours after retiring from 50-over cricket. The experienced batsman has struggled in recent times, with just 27 runs in five internationals this year. Also, he scored just 47 runs in six matches with a top score of 16 in Ireland’s inter-provisional T20 competition. Can he turn things around and find form here?
• Paul Stirling had an under-par ODI series, but remains crucial to Ireland’s hopes. He has scored just 53 runs in four T20Is on this ground (avg. 13.25, SR 115.21), so Ireland will be hoping for a turnaround here.
• Harry Tector had a solid ODI series (25, 79, 29). He, George Dockrell and Simi Singh (who scored a century in the third ODI) will be key in finishing the innings well.
• Josh Little took 11 wickets in six matches in Ireland’s inter-provisional T20 competition (2/21, 3/26, 1/32, 0/21, 3/8, 2/16). This is in addition to four wickets in the ODI series against South Africa (2/45, 2/53). Wicket-taker.
• Craig Young has taken a wicket in all but one game on this ground (four matches so far).

South Africa:

• The key man is Quinton de Kock. He had a magnificent series in West Indies (255 runs in five T20Is), followed up by a century in the third ODI vs Ireland. If he gets going, watch out.
• Aiden Markram was left out of the XI in the third ODI, but he has had a superb year in T20Is. In seven matches, he has struck 292 runs at an average of 41.71 and fantastic strike rate of 158.69. He scored 70 off 48 balls in his last T20I, vs West Indies.
• Rassie van der Dussen showed glimpses of his best form in the West Indies without making too much of an impact (97 runs, avg. 24.25, one fifty). He will be key here.
• It’s an important series for Kagiso Rabada as he will be out to lead South Africa’s death-bowling improvement. He recently took seven wickets in the five T20Is vs West Indies, albeit at a high economy rate of 9.44. Lungi Ngidi has the same career economy rate, but is a genuine wicket-taker with 33 scalps in 21 matches (SR 12.90).
• Tabraiz Shamsi is in outstanding form. Before taking 1/35, 1/42 and 3/46 in the ODIs, Shamsi won player of the series in West Indies with seven wickets at an unbelievable economy rate of just 4.00. The number one ranked T20I will be key here.

Possible Playing 11

Ireland: 1. Paul Stirling, 2. Kevin O’Brien, 3. Andy Balbirnie (c), 4. Harry Tector, 5. George Dockrell, 6. Lorcan Tucker (wk), 7. Shane Getkate, 8. Simi Singh, 9. Mark Adair/Barry McCarthy, 10. Craig Young, 11. Josh Little

South Africa: 1. Quinton de Kock (wk), 2. Temba Bavuma (c), 3. Aiden Markram, 4. Rassie van der Dussen, 5. David Miller, 6. Andile Phehlukwayo/Dwaine Pretorius, 7. George Linde, 8. Kagiso Rabada, 9. Anrich Nortje, 10. Lungi Ngidi, 11. Tabraiz Shamsi

Malahide Pitch Report and Weather

The Malahide track was a beauty for batting in the ODI series. This ground has a first-innings average score of 152, but one feels that this kind of score will be under-par here if we look at how the ODI series transpired. The highest successful run chase on this ground is 182, so any score in that region will certainly be a competitive one.

A top of 20 degrees is forecast for Monday with no rain expected.

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Match Prediction

We could see a high-scoring match given the good pitch and short boundaries on offer. With the T20 cricket South Africa have been playing recently, they are well placed to win this first T20I.