it’s all over for the Irish

O’Brien started well. Knocked down by a Jacques Kallis bouncer,he retaliated by dispatching the bowler to the long-leg boundary. His little cameo showed a couple more flashes of promise till he failed to control his instincts and holed out to Hashim Amla at long-off. Bowler Robin Peterson and his colleagues knew they had the match in their bag. With eight points from five matches,the Proteas moved into the quarter-finals with a 131-run victory in the Group B match at the Eden Gardens.

After a promising start,the Irish surrendered the initiative and allowed South Africa to reach 272 for seven from a troubling 117 for 5 in 26.3 overs. After that they barely had a chance. Morne Morkel (3/33) made early inroads on a wicket that offered bounce and then Peterson (3/32) got into the act with his left arm spin. Jacques Kallis chipped in with a couple of wickets in the middle overs and Dale Steyn,suffering from a side strain,was not required for a second spell.

Earlier,the Irish bowlers stifled the fancied South African batting till JP Duminy arrived. Duminy missed his third ODI hundred by one run,but along with Colin Ingram (46),took his team to a match-winning total.

Armed with the new ball,Boyd Rankin persistently bowled back of length to Amla and ruled out the front foot drives. Graeme Smith,who was struggling to find his rhythm,got nothing to manoeuvre off his backfoot.

It was Amla who blinked first against Rankin. After a pull over midwicket for six,he went a slash over third man which ended up in the hands of George Dockrell,who took a stunner. Another brilliant piece of fielding from John Mooney brought an end to Smith¿s labours,run out after being sent back by Morne van Wyk.

Promoted to number three,Van Wyk’s efforts to force the pace were aided by two dropped catches,but succumbed to the relentless pressure exerted by left-arm spinner George Dockrell.

After Kallis was run out in his second successive innings and Faf du Plessis guided a Paul Stirling off-spinner tamely to Johnston at slip,South Africa were in a spot of bother. A light drizzle had livened up the pitch and the odd ball started to skid. And then came Duminy,who shone bright under the lights.

He started with a whimper but shifted gears excellently to end with a bang. A well-deserved century was on offer. But he sacrificed his wicket while going for a big one in the final over. “I am not disappointed at all. At that moment it was important to have as many runs as possible. It was one of my better innings,” said the Man of the Match.

Towards the end,the Irish bowlers started to err. Still,only four wides and not a single no ball showed that they were disciplined even under pressure. But to graduate to the next level,they will have to learn to bat against quality pace.