The trip which is part of the team’s preparation for the 2025 Under-19s T20 World Cup, is the first time Ireland Under-19s Women have toured a full member nation for a bilateral series.
28 OCTOBER Ireland U19s Women vs South Africa U19s Women – Groenkloof Oval (First T20I)
- South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first in the opening match of the series.
- Very early on, Ireland lost Freya Sargent but then skipper Amy Hunter and Alice Tector were able to consolidate the innings with a partnership of 52.
- However upon quickly removing Hunter 24 (26) and Tector 24 (28), South Africa were then able to apply pressure in the second half of the Irish innings.
- Ireland eventually reached 113/8 thanks to contributions from Annabel Squires 13 (11), Abby Harrison 19 (16) as well as smaller cameos from Julie McNally and Niamh McNulty.
- In response South Africa started aggressively in the powerplay, but McNulty removed Gemma Botha in the third over to break up this pattern of play.
- Kia McCartney (2-16) and Freya (1-20) were able to make further inroads but South African captain Kayla Reyneke successfully guided the chase with 46 off 27.
Scorecard here.
South Africa U19s Women won by 6 wickets
28 OCTOBER Ireland U19s Women vs South Africa U19s Women – Groenkloof Oval (Second T20I)
- For the second time in the day, South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first.
- This time around, Ireland had a much more solid start with Amy Hunter and Freya Sargent putting on 21 for the first wicket.
- Sargent in particular excelled, scoring 24 however regular wickets kept breaking up momentum.
- Van Wyk bowled well taking 1-14 from her four overs but she also executed two near identical finger tip runouts at the non-striker’s end for which Ireland can consider themselves very unlucky on the day.
- Further contributions came from Ellie McGee 13 (6), Abby Harrison 10 (24) and Lara McBride 11 (28) with Ireland eventually posting 93/8 from their 20 overs.
- Defending 94 would always be tricky, and South Africa again got off to a brisk start with the bat in the powerplay.
- Sargent got the first wicket and soon had a second – going for just 18 from her three overs.
- Aimee Maguire took one, and could have had another through a tough stumping chance while Niamh McNulty claimed a wicket herself.
- Another two wickets might have really tested the resolve of the hosts, but defending 94 was always going to require most things to go your way.
Scorecard here.
South Africa U19s Women won by 6 wickets.
30 OCTOBER Ireland U19s Women vs South Africa U19s Women – Tuk Cricket Oval (Third T20I)
- The third match was quickly switched to Tuk Cricket Oval (which has previously hosted men’s and women’s ODIs) due to a burst pipe at Groenkloof.
- For the first time in the series, Amy Hunter won the toss and called immediately to bowl first to test out the South African batters first up.
- At 39-3 things looked to overwhelmingly be going the Ireland’s way with Aimee Maguire (4- taking two wickets in two balls in her first over but crucially it was a stunning catch from Julie McNally in the deep which got the first breakthrough.
- South Africa quickly consolidated putting on 62 for the fourth wicket and Ireland found it slightly harder going in the second half of the innings.
- Alice Tector impressed with her death bowling and executed a run out in the final over, but South Africa’s total of 147/7 was always going to be imposing.
- Ireland found it difficult getting into the chase from 7-1, 11-2, 15-3 to 16-4, but Ellie McGee 21, Abby Harrison 18 and Kia McCartney 11 showed resolve with the bat to eventually reach 89/9.
- Although they were now 3-0 down in the five-match series, Ireland’s bowlers had adapted well to the conditions particularly in the second and third games to show what was possible.
Scorecard here.
South Africa U19s Women won by 58 runs.
01 NOVEMBER Ireland U19s Women vs South Africa U19s Women – Tuk Cricket Oval (Fourth T20I)
- In keeping with the previous match, Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl first.
- Immediately the decision proved to be the right call with Freya Sargent taking a wicket, followed up with a second from Alice Tector.
- South Africa then fought hard to reach 73 for 2 after the first ten overs overs, eventually posting 168/6 (20 overs) but Aimee Maguire continued to be impressive with 2-31 from her four overs.
- In response Ireland lost Lucy Neely, playing her first game, in the fourth over.
- From there Amy Hunter was able to build a strong foundation with the help of Freya Sargent and Alice Tector under challenging conditions to stay in the hunt and attack later in the innings.
- In a fourth-wicket partnership of 61, Hunter batting with Annabel Squires proved very successful with a full array of expansive shots being used by the captain who ended up with 73 off 52, run out off the final delivery.
- Ireland finished with 131/4 (20 overs), getting close in the chase against a strong South African attack.
Scorecard here.
South Africa U19s Women won by 37 runs.
01 NOVEMBER Ireland U19s Women vs South Africa U19s Women – Tuk Cricket Oval (Fifth T20I)
- In the final match of the series, Amy Hunter again won the toss but this time decided to bat first.
- Ireland found themselves in trouble at 2-1, 25-2 and 35-3 but strong contributions from Freya Sargent (21 off 29), Lara McBride (33 off 42), and Alice Walsh (10 off 33) helped to build a total.
- Although wickets fell throughout the innings, Ireland were able to post 104/9, could they defend it?
- Sargent got her side off to the perfect start with a wicket from the third ball of the innings but South Africa soon fought hard to get themselves back into the chase.
- The next breakthrough came at 43-2, but Ireland kept applying pressure to soon make it 56-5, thanks to Aimee Maguire who claimed two wickets in two balls for the second time in the series, plus a crucial run out from Sargent and Hunter.
- Maguire was now well into her work eventually finishing with 4-17 from her four overs but Sargent kept up the pressure to take her second wicket with Lucy Neely also contributing 2-26.
- With the game on a knife-edge, South Africa at nine wickets down managed to inch across the line with one or two moments potentially deciding the result.
- Cowling for the hosts particularly proved impressive hitting 18 from 13 to change momentum during a key part of the game in the final overs.
- Ireland U19s Women will be disappointed with the 0-5 series score line, but will be buoyed but many impressive moments with the ball and some with the bat to go with all of the many learnings from their very first tour to a full member nation for a bilateral series.
Scorecard here.
South Africa U19s Women won by one wicket (and the series 5-0)