The Future Cup in Ireland 2007

One-day internationals (3): India 2, South Africa 1

The Irish Cricket Union, buoyed by their team's success in the World Cup, arranged an ambitious programme for the summer of 2007. They hosted India and South Africa, playing one-day internationals against both (details in Cricket in Ireland, page 990), before the two Test nations squared off in a three-match series of their own. Later in the season West Indies took part in a quadrangular series with Ireland, Holland and Scotland (details in Other One-Day Internationals, page 1304).

The Future Cup, played in the shadow of Stormont Castle in Belfast, was a mixed affair, with the crowds - at least until the last match - disappointing. This was due to a number of factors: the weather was poor throughout; the late withdrawal of Zee TV created doubt about whether the matches would go ahead (they did, once Nimbus stepped in to televise them); and the asking price of £35 a ticket, the price levied for the inaugural one-dayer against England in 2006, was too steep, as Irish officials later admitted.

On the field, though, the matches were close: all three went down to the last over, and India just came out on top, thanks mainly to Sachin Tendulkar, who made 99 and 93 in the first two games. He had never been dismissed for 99 in any international before this, but made something of a habit of it afterwards, bagging two more 99s before 2007 was out. Several of the Indians went down with flu before the first match, which evened things up a little as South Africa had brought an inexperienced side, lacking Graeme Smith (injured) and Shaun Pollock: their squad included five players who were not at the World Cup.

Match reports for

1st ODI: India v South Africa at Belfast, Jun 26, 2007
Report | Scorecard

2nd ODI: India v South Africa at Belfast, Jun 29, 2007
Report | Scorecard

3rd ODI: India v South Africa at Belfast, Jul 1, 2007
Report | Scorecard