Ireland elect to field against South Africa

Ireland captain Trent Johnston won the toss and elected to field against South Africa in the rain-curtailed cricket one-dayer in Belfast on Sunday.

Scorecard | Coverage

The match was reduced to 31 overs a side following a near five-hour delay in start due to rain and wet pitch conditions.

South Africa handed off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala and all-rounder Vernon Philander, who turned 22 today, their maiden ODI caps.

Jacques Kallis was leading the side with regular skipper Graeme Smith out of the series recovering from a knee surgery.

Also absent were veteran all-rounder Shaun Pollock and middle order batsman Ashwell Prince.

Ireland team too featured a debutant, batting all-rounder Alex Cusack who was brought in place of Gary Wilson, the only change to the side that lost to India by 9 wickets on Saturday.

The teams:
Ireland: Trent Johnston (captain), William Porterfield, Kenny Carroll, Dominick Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Alex Cusack, Andrew White, Kevin O'Brien, Thinus Fourie, Roger Whelan, Kyle McCallan.

South Africa: Jacques Kallis (captain), AB de Villiers, Morne van Wyk, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp, JP Duminy, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Thandi Tshabalala.