Ireland captain Paul Stirling admits a first T20 success over South Africa would be ‘huge’ ahead of this weekend’s series in Abu Dhabi.

The sides face each other on Friday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium before the series concludes on Sunday.

Ireland are hoping to break their duck against South Africa at the sixth attempt but Stirling is hopeful of a breakthrough victory.

“It would be huge,” he said. “South Africa are such a powerhouse in world cricket and have such a strong team.

placeholder image — Ireland captain Paul Stirling and his South African counterpart Aidan Markram posed with the T20 series trophy ahead of the first match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday

“So, it would be good if we could manage to get over the line in the next few days. Anything can happen in the T20 format so we are confident we can get a result.”

Ireland are five places below South Africa in the T20 world rankings and will field a young squad this weekend.

The Proteas reached the T20 World Cup final in June and like Ireland are embarking on a new cycle in preparation for the tournament in 2026, which takes place in India and Sri Lanka.

Ireland were winless in four games at the World Cup but Stirling has no doubt the team will improve over the next two years.

“We've got extremely talented players and we want to get them in the best possible place for the next World Cup,” he said.

“We're probably going to see new faces over the next six to 12 months and get that player pool expanded, getting more people playing international cricket.

“We need to start incorporating younger players and giving chances to different players as we go along.”

On the challenge against South Africa this weekend, opener Stirling added: “They have a well-balanced team with the most obvious attribute their middle order.

“There's a lot of power there and no doubt they will come hard.

“There's also their pace. It's a luxury to have where we're playing at as pace through the air is so important.”

South Africa were beaten by Afghanistan in their last ODI series and will be eager to put that defeat behind them with victory over Ireland.

Skipper Aiden Markram said: “It's an exciting challenge and we as a team want to get back to winning ways.

"It's a young and maybe less experienced team against a very good Irish side with guys that are match-winners and guys that that have taken down any opposition that they've come across."