Ireland square series after Ross Adair ton

A spectacular century from Ross Adair which saw him add 137 runs for the opening wicket alongside Paul Stirling headlined Ireland's tight 10-run win over South Africa in the 2nd T20I. Chasing 196, South Africa were on course to get the job done before stumbling right at the death as Ross's brother Mark came to Ireland's rescue to ensure the series was drawn.

Ireland tee off despite Adair's jittery start

By the end of the powerplay, Ireland had 59 on the board. The fact that they managed this despite Ross making only 20 off 19 was purely down to Stirling. South Africa used four different bowlers to deliver the first four overs but Stirling managed to find the boundary consistently. After sending Wiaan Mulder out of the attack very early with a four and a six, Stirling took on Lizaad Williams to race to 35 in the powerplay.

The massive opening stand

Any hopes of a respite after the fielding restrictions were lifted didn't materialize for South Africa. This time, Ross got into the act as well as he broke free against Nqaba Peter for a four and a six before clearing the ropes three more times in the following two overs. That assault saw him turn his fortunes around and bring up a fifty off just 32 balls. Stirling, who was watching the carnage at the other end, joined in as Ireland scored 110 runs at the halfway point. Ross kept dealing in sixes as he dispatched two more to the stands off Peter. The massive partnership was finally broken in the 13th over immediately after Stirling brought up his fifty as he got stumped. However, the platform was laid with Ireland's run rate well over 10 at this point. Ross fetched a six and a four in the following over as well as Ireland had 150 on the board at the end of 14 overs as a total beyond 200 was firmly in their sights.

Did they get there?

Quite stunningly, they didn't. With nine wickets in hand at that stage and six overs left, 10 an over would have easily carried them to 210. However, South Africa staged a commendable comeback by conceding just 45 from those final 36 balls. Kruger and Williams came up with two good overs to stifle the opposition and even though Ross brought up a stunning hundred with his ninth six, his dismissal and the departure of Curtis Campher with three overs to go hurt Ireland as they added just 19 runs from thereon to fall five short of 200.

A similar start for South Africa

Mark Adair conceded just two runs in the opening over before Reeza Hendricks fetched a couple of boundaries in the next. Ryan Rickelton, who starred in the opening game, made a watchful start before exploding with a flurry of sixes to race to 34 off 19. His heroics came to an end in the final over of the powerplay when Rickelton top-edged a delivery to depart for 36.

South Africa on track

Matthew Breetzke didn't get off to the greatest of starts, scoring only 10 from his first 10 deliveries but Hendricks kept going at the other end to ensure South Africa didn't fall behind. A poor over from Fionn Hand that saw him concede 17 runs put South Africa on top as Hendricks brought up his fifty. Even though he was dismissed in the following over, Breetzke and Aiden Markram hit a six each in the same over to solidify South Africa's position. Ireland struck a couple of times more but with 28 needed from the final three overs, South Africa would have backed themselves to get the job done.

The game-changer!!

This is where the game turned on its head. Graham Hume conceded just five runs to bring down the equation to 23 off 12 and the penultimate over saw Ireland tip the scales completely in their favour. Mark Adair came back for his final over and began it by bagging Mulder's wicket. The well-set Breetzke then found the long on fielder before Mark rounded off a remarkable over with another wicket to completely rattle South Africa. 173/4 became 179/7 as Hume delivered another excellent over to seal the deal for Ireland.

Brief scores: Ireland 195/6 in 20 overs (Ross Adair 100, Paul Stirling 52; Wiaan Mulder 2/51) beat South Africa 185/9 in 20 overs (Reeza Hendricks 51; Mark Adair 4/31, Graham Hume 3/25) by 10 runs