Duminy anchors South Africa to win and into last eight

Wednesday, 16 March 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters) - JP Duminy agonisingly missed out on his first World Cup hundred by a run but his sparkling effort propelled South Africa into the quarter-finals with a crushing 131-run win over Ireland on Tuesday.

The 273-run target proved a bit too steep for the Irish as they never recovered from the early jolts, and were ultimately shot out for a paltry 141. South Africa became the first team from Group B to reach the last eight.

Speedster Morne Morkel and spinner Robin Peterson picked up three wickets apiece as South Africa made regular inroads to block Irish hopes of an upset.

Duminy also chipped in with a wicket with his part-time off-spin but it was definitely not enough to compensate his missing a deserved hundred while unselfishly trying to gather more runs for his team.