Publications
Partners
Eduan Roos
Mirpur – With bowlers like Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel in their ranks, South Africa won’t easily be stopped from winning their first world crown.
That was the view of Irish captain William Porterfield after his team were vanquished by 131 runs by the Proteas.
The defeat ended Ireland’s World Cup campaign, while at the same time ensuring a quarter-final spot for South Africa.
Ireland limited Graeme Smith’s team to 271/7 in their allotted 50 overs after JP Duminy rescued the Proteas’ innings by posting 99 runs.
Morkel, Jacques Kallis and Robin Peterson then bowled out the Irish for just 141. While Steyn did not take a wicket, he mesmerised the losing team’s batsmen with his pace and swing.
“We were delighted to limit South Africa to 271, even after we had them on 117/5,” said Porterfield.
“Morkel and Steyn really made things difficult for our batsmen with the new ball and we could never really recover from the initial setback.”
He believes these two bowlers’ hunger for wickets may be decisive when the knockout rounds of the 2011 World Cup come around.
“Both of them are very quick, but have even more to offer. Dale has the ability to generate late swing, while Morné gets incredible bounce.
“Together with Australia they have the scariest attack at the tournament, but they also have quality spinners, which the Aussies don’t have.”
Porterfield added that the Proteas’ batsmen don’t have to stand back for anyone at the World Cup in 2011.
“South Africa and India are leading the way in that department. We played against both sides and as far as I’m concerned they’re easily the toughest at the tournament. I can’t see them being easily stopped.”
Porterfield also praised Duminy.
“Most batsmen would have been hesitant to play shots with their team in trouble, but Duminy was fearless and made it virtually impossible for us to land the knockout blow,” said Porterfield.
“Even so, we would have been happy if we had known beforehand that we would be chasing 272. But against a side like South Africa you can’t afford to lose wickets as regularly as we did. That was ultimately the difference.”
Mirpur – With bowlers like Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel in their ranks, South Africa won’t easily be stopped from winning their first world crown.
That was the view of Irish captain William Porterfield after his team were vanquished by 131 runs by the Proteas.
The defeat ended Ireland’s World Cup campaign, while at the same time ensuring a quarter-final spot for South Africa.
Ireland limited Graeme Smith’s team to 271/7 in their allotted 50 overs after JP Duminy rescued the Proteas’ innings by posting 99 runs.
Morkel, Jacques Kallis and Robin Peterson then bowled out the Irish for just 141. While Steyn did not take a wicket, he mesmerised the losing team’s batsmen with his pace and swing.
“We were delighted to limit South Africa to 271, even after we had them on 117/5,” said Porterfield.
“Morkel and Steyn really made things difficult for our batsmen with the new ball and we could never really recover from the initial setback.”
He believes these two bowlers’ hunger for wickets may be decisive when the knockout rounds of the 2011 World Cup come around.
“Both of them are very quick, but have even more to offer. Dale has the ability to generate late swing, while Morné gets incredible bounce.
“Together with Australia they have the scariest attack at the tournament, but they also have quality spinners, which the Aussies don’t have.”
Porterfield added that the Proteas’ batsmen don’t have to stand back for anyone at the World Cup in 2011.
“South Africa and India are leading the way in that department. We played against both sides and as far as I’m concerned they’re easily the toughest at the tournament. I can’t see them being easily stopped.”
Porterfield also praised Duminy.
“Most batsmen would have been hesitant to play shots with their team in trouble, but Duminy was fearless and made it virtually impossible for us to land the knockout blow,” said Porterfield.
“Even so, we would have been happy if we had known beforehand that we would be chasing 272. But against a side like South Africa you can’t afford to lose wickets as regularly as we did. That was ultimately the difference.”
