Advertisement

Miller casts aside doubts to beat Netherlands

cricket08 June 2024 19:27| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
Share
article image
David Miller © Getty Images

David Miller walked to the crease with the scoreboard reading a scarcely credible 12-4 in pursuit of a modest Netherlands total of 103-9 in their T20 World Cup match in New York on Saturday.

Although he didn’t admit it in as many words, he also didn’t deny that thoughts of another disastrous defeat to the Dutch weren’t far away.

He finished with an unbeaten 59 from 51 balls to the immense relief of his team mates, and himself as South Africa won with seven balls to spare.

“I just thought about controlling my breathing, my frame of mind and body language, just take it once ball at a time, look for singles, get out of the hole and then start to think about the rest of the run chase,” Miller said afterwards.

When Marco Jansen was dismissed South Africa still needed 29 from 23 balls and Miller was left with the tail…

“It was a lot more tense at the back end than it was at 12-4 when I walked out there,” he said. “I have faith in our tailenders, it was hard for them to come and hit boundaries.”

Miller struck three sixes in the final three overs which won the game.

BEST 'PRESSURE' INNINGS

Having seen both Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs caught in the deep attempting to clear the boundary, they were enormously ‘clutch’ shots.

Asked whether it was amongst his best ‘pressure’ innings, Miller replied: “I knew what I needed to do so I really, really enjoyed that innings. Yes, it was.”  

He also paid tribute to the fighting spirit and skill of the Netherlands:

“They’re still ‘up’ on us at World Cups but huge credit to them for another fine performance, they are a very good cricket team, we always knew that.”

Former SA Under-19 player Sybrand Engelbecht kept the Dutch innings afloat with 40 from 45 balls and enjoyed every minute of playing against his former countrymen, some of whom were team mates.

“It is a fantastic privilege to play international cricket and to play against these guys was amazing. I have a good relationship with many of them, we go back many years and they’re great guys and a great cricket team,” Engelbrecht said.

The Netherlands now probably need to beat both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their final two group games to qualify for the Super Eights.

“We absolutely believe we can win both of those games,” Engelbrecht said.”

Advertisement