Ireland’s cup fairytale ends
The Irish, who produced the tournament’s first upset — a three-wicket win over England — nearly two weeks ago, saw a below-par batting performance undo what was an otherwise respectable performance with the ball at Eden Gardens.
Chasing 272, Ireland were all out for 141 as Morne Morkel and Robin Peterson grabbed three wickets each, while Jacques Kallis took two to condemn Ireland to defeat in the 34th over.
There may be questions asked of Ireland about letting their opponents fight back from a tight spot, when some disciplined bowling and tight fielding had left the Proteas at 117 for five, but Porterfield said: “We started off pretty well. We got a couple of wickets up front. It’s always important to get wickets to peg them back. I thought we did that pretty much throughout.
“We were happy enough at half-time, as chasing 270 wasn’t out of our reach. But it’s just that we lost wickets.”
A dead-rubber tie against Holland beckons on Friday but Porterfield remained pleased with Ireland’s performances throughout the tournament, which has seen them gain many admirers and has raised calls for them to be included in the next edition.
“We’ve shown a lot of competitive spirit,” he added.
“A lot of the games have come down to last 10 overs. We’ve put ourselves in winning positions, which is what we’ll take from this tournament.
“Today we lost a lot of wickets and were always behind. But the tournament has been good and we’ll take a lot of positives from it.”
JP Duminy was South Africa’s hero with the bat in Kolkata, smashing 99 off 103 balls to help South Africa recover to post a competitive total.
There was disappointment for Ireland from the very start of the run-chase, as Morkel sent back openers Porterfield and Paul Stirling, and Kallis had Niall O’Brien caught behind, all in the space of 10 overs.
Ed Joyce was the next to depart and just as Ireland had begun the slow march to stability, Peterson spun the old ball to devastating effect. He left Ireland reeling at 107 for seven by first dispatching the settled pair of Kevin O’Brien (19) and Gary Wilson (31) — who had a promising 41-run stand — in the same over, followed soon after by Alex Cusack (seven).
Trent Johnston (12), John Mooney (14) and George Dockrell (16) only served to delay the inevitable, Morkel fittingly grabbing the final scalp to bowl Ireland out for 141.
Proteas skipper Graeme Smith refused to let the initial setbacks mar a result that sees them progress to the quarter-final.
Smith said: “We put ourselves under pressure with some stupid run-outs but the guys responded really well after that, especially JP, who batted really well under pressure.
“I think you can always nitpick, but there were some good signs.”
Unbeaten Australia take on Canada today (Sky Sports 1, 9am).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
