Cricket stumps may not be the same unadulterated wooden beasts they once were, but they are still awfully hard to be splintered on a whim. Well, apparently not for Lizaad Williams, who perfectly bisected the middle stump in Abu Dhabi on Friday in a three-wicket over, enroute to a thrilling four-fer.
Ireland finally managed to get things right with the bat in the third and final ODI against South Africa at the Zayed Cricket Stadium as openers Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie put up a century stand before Harry Tector smashed a rapid half-century towards the death. The Proteas spearhead Lungi Ngidi suffered in particular, conceding 70 runs in his nine overs without any success, but the side managed to script a mini-comeback late in the game to restrict the Irish to under 300, with Lizaad Williams the headline act as three of his four wickets came in the final over of his quota.
The in-form right-arm quick was handed the Kookaburra for the penultimate over with Mark Adair on strike. The Irishman tried to innovate with a scoop behind the wicket as he moved across the stumps but was undone by Lizaad’s unnerving accuracy as the white rock pitched on a full length and smashed into the middle-stump, fracturing it into two separate pieces. However, the pacer remained stoic despite the spectacular scenes, and followed up the effort with a yorker down leg to dispatch debutant Fionn Hand for a golden duck. Even though the hattrick never came, Lizaad ensured he added a third wicket in the over with another scintillating yorker on the last ball that sneaked under Graham Hume’s bat and sent the bails flying.
Twitter was ecstatic at the exhibition of fast bowling on display in sweltering conditions as they showered praise on the promise shown by Lizaad Williams.
What a ball!
Yeah!
Ireland will be very dissapointed could have got 320 from here #IREvsSA
— 🆁🅾🅻🅴🆇ᶜʳⁱᶜᵏᵉᵗᵍᵉᵉᵏ (@RoshanSriram123) October 7, 2024
Paul Stirling has brought up his 30th half-century! 🎉 His performance is being enjoyed by fans of all ages, from toddlers to the elderly, despite the soaring heat in Abu Dhabi. 🌞🏏#IREvSA #Cricket #ODI #Proteas #Ireland #irevssa #BackingGreen #Proteas #AbuDhabi 🍀 #WozaNawe… pic.twitter.com/XGvOsVAMXZ
— lightningspeed (@lightningspeedk) October 7, 2024
Yeah!
Yes they batted so well!
Ireland playing really well against South Africa 🔥
300 score is a possibility 💯#IREvsSA pic.twitter.com/Fqmz68UB9f— Nitin Kumar (@Nitin_kumar57) October 7, 2024
ɪʀᴇʟᴀɴᴅ 🇮🇪 ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss & ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴀᴛ 🏏 ғɪʀsᴛ √#IreVsSa #Oneday
— ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss (@won_the_toss) October 7, 2024
Went well!
ɪʀᴇʟᴀɴᴅ 🇮🇪 ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss & ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴀᴛ 🏏 ғɪʀsᴛ √#IreVsSa #Oneday
— ᴡᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏss (@won_the_toss) October 7, 2024
