Ireland have been given a mammoth target of 412 runs to win their Pool B World Cup clash following impressive centuries from South Africa duo Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis.
The Proteas chose to bat after winning the toss, but one of their men was sent back to the pavilion early in Canberra when John Mooney struck in the second over to dismiss Quinton de Kock for just one.
South Africa could have been vulnerable to a wobble after losing an early wicket, but Amla and Du Plessis took full control of the innings by storming to centuries.
Amla claimed his 20th one-day international 100 and he reached his highest ODI score by surpassing 154, but his 258-run partnership came to an end when Du Plessis was bowled out by Kevin O'Brien.
It was a big breakthrough for Ireland to dismiss Du Plessis, who hit 109 off as many balls, and they managed to swing the momentum in their direction when Andy McBrine took out Amla and AB de Villiers in the same over.
Amla left the field having scored 159 runs, which included four sixes and 16 boundaries, off 128 balls. De Villiers, who made history by scoring the fastest ever ODI 150 against the West Indies last week, managed just 24 runs in Australia.
Despite losing a number of big hitters, South Africa were still able to post a healthy total of 411-4 as David Miller and Rilee Rossouw contributed with unbeaten scores of 46 and 61 respectively.
The Proteas are the first team to hit 400 in two matches in a row.
Danielle Joynson
