Ireland has beaten South Africa for the second time in the one day internationals, thanks to Stirlings 88. He helped his side with a 69 run victory in the last one day.
Ireland’s sole previous victory over South Africa in the format occurred in July 2021, at Malahide in Dublin.
The Proteas won the first match by 139 runs last Wednesday and sealed the series with a 174-run victory two days later.
Ireland had been bowled out for less than 168 runs in both defeats, but after winning the toss, they set their opponents a target of 285.
Captain Stirling led the way with 88, his 30th ODI half-century, in an innings that included eight fours and three sixes.
He and fellow opener Andrew Balbirnie shared a century until Lizaad Williams dismissed the latter for 45, the first of his four wickets.
With Ireland steadily increasing their score, Harry Tector added 60 before being run out in the last over of the innings.
South Africa’s reaction began disastrously, with a pair of Mark Adair wickets with the new ball leading to a 10-3 start.
Kyle Verreynne and Tristan Stubbs provided some stability, but when Craig Young got the latter’s prized wicket for 20, the score had dropped to 79-5.
After a duck on his ODI debut against Afghanistan last month, Jason Smith settled into a groove and offered continuous fight until falling for 91 off 93 balls when caught by Adair on the boundary off Graham Hume’s bowling.
South Africa’s challenge ended when Hume forced Lungi Ngidi to edge into Lorcan Tucker’s hands.
This was Ireland’s penultimate match of the year, which also included Test victories over Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
And Monday’s victory, along with their first T20 win over South Africa, meant they had won two of their five matches on the trip.
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