IT WASN'T a "You've just dropped the World Cup, mate" moment, but when Ed Joyce spilled a sharp chance from Hashim Amla at mid-wicket in the sixth over at the Manuka Oval, any hope Ireland had of pulling off an upset against South Africa slipped away too.

It happens. It happened again five overs later when a half chance flew past Kevin O'Brien at slip but if Ireland were to stretch the Proteas, never mind beat them, everything had to be held and everyone had to bat and bowl to their full potential.

Amla, one of the four or five best batsmen in the world was 10 when he survived O'Brien's first delivery - he was eventually caught by Joyce for a career-best 159 from 128 balls. Faf du Plessis was 19 when he slashed Paul Stirling past slip - he went on to make 109.

With David Miller and Rilee Rossouw contributing to a stunning 200 from the final 15 overs, South Africa didn't need a big score from man of the moment AB de Villiers to post a tournament best of 411-4 and run out winners by 201 runs.

De Villiers had looked in ominous form as he smashed two sixes, but he departed two balls after Amla for 24. Both fell to 21-year-old off-spinner Andy McBrine, who again shone after marking his World Cup debut with a maiden to Chris Gayle. If the catches had been taken, it may have been different. It may even have been worse because this will go down as the match when Ireland's lack of fast bowling firepower came home to roost.

They got away with it against the West Indies and the UAE, but in Canberra it was like turning up at the OK Corral with two pop guns and catapult.

John Mooney started well with two maidens and figures of 1-9 from his first five overs but the other 15 overs delivered by himself and his fellow seamers Max Sorensen and O'Brien disappeared for 214 runs.

"On paper it's a big margin of defeat but there were still some positives there for us," captain William Porterfield said. "We let ourselves down in a couple of areas that we need to address but the three spinners bowled well and we kept at it throughout. When we came off at half-time we looked at the breakdown of the scoring in their innings and thought we could give it a go if we build a platform. But when you lose your top four batsmen in the first 10 overs that makes any chase difficult."

Andy Balbirnie, who top-scored with 58, and Kevin O'Brien restored some pride from the ruins of 48-5 with a sixth-wicket partnership of 81 that helped to keep Ireland's net run rate above Pakistan's as they slipped to fourth place in Pool B.

It wasn't a day to remember for the majority of the 8,831 spectators, but victory in Saturday's clash with Zimbabwe in Hobart will put Ireland back on track for quarter-finals' qualification