Ireland v South Africa: First T20 win over Proteas would be ‘huge’ – Paul Stirling

The Proteas, who reached the T20 World Cup final in June, and Ireland are starting a new cycle leading into the 2026 tournament in India and Sri Lanka.

Ireland failed to win any of their four games at the World Cup but Stirling is “extremely confident” the team will improve in the next two years.

“We’ve got extremely talented players and we want to get them in the best possible place for the next World Cup,” he said.

“We’re probably going to see new faces over the next six to 12 months and get that player pool expanded, getting more people playing international cricket. We need to start incorporating younger players and giving chances to different players as we go along.”

South Africa are coming off an ODI series defeat by Afghanistan in Sharjah so are seeking to bounce back against the Irish.

“It’s an exciting challenge and we as a team want to get back to winning ways,” said skipper Aiden Markram.

“It’s a young and maybe less experienced team against a very good Irish side with guys that are match-winners and guys that that have taken down any opposition that they’ve come across.”