Dazzling Miller and Linde lone guns for Proteas

David Miller played one of his most dazzling T20I innings as he slammed 82 in 40 balls, including four fours and eight sixes, while George Linde provided the South African innings with a fine climax with 48 off 24 balls in the first T20I against Pakistan at Kingsmead in Durban on Tuesday.

Miller and Linde proved to be the lone guns for the home team, however, as Pakistan restricted the Proteas to 183 for nine in their 20 overs after skipper Heinrich Klaasen had won the toss and chosen to bat in front of a noisy Kingsmead crowd on a humid Durban night.

Pakistan got off to the perfect start when left-arm paceman Shaheen Afridi bowled Rassie van der Dussen first ball in the opening over as the opener got an inside edge to a full delivery that crashed into his stumps.

Matthew Breetzke was quick to follow in the next over with a particularly soft dismissal as he cut legspinner Abrar Ahmed tamely to backward point.

Miller was at the crease much earlier than usual, in only the second over, but he immediately looked in fine fettle, clipping Shaheen Afridi off his legs for four before striking an exquisite back-foot drive to the fence.

Reeza Hendricks became the third South African wicket to fall in the power-play when he was too late on a fast top-spinning delivery that he tried to hit through the covers, the ball spearing through to shatter his stumps.

And when Heinrich Klaasen was caught on the boundary at cow corner – the ball getting caught in the stiff south-westerly wind – South Africa had slipped to 71 for four in the ninth over.

Since the second over, South Africa had largely been firing on Miller’s momentum.

A highlight of his innings was three consecutive sixes off Abrar Ahmed, the third a monstrous effort into the south stand.

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 😎🔥

There's an important partnership forming in the middle 👀

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A century was his for the taking until he marginally mistimed a flat pull of Shaheen Afridi to deep midwicket in the 14th over.

The dynamic left-hander's disappointment was obvious but he had played one of his most brilliant T20I innings, his eighth half-century at this level.

Two wickets fell quickly after Miller’s dismissal but a brisk partnership of 42 in 25 balls between Linde and Kwena Maphaka helped to give the Proteas’ total a competitive look.

Linde climaxed his innings, and the innings as a whole, with three huge sixes in Sufiyan’s Muqeen’s final over, an on-drive landing in the third tier of the south stand.

When he holed out to the final ball of the innings, he had struck three fours and four sixes in his 24-ball 48, an excellent effort.

The most successful Pakistan bowlers were Shaheen Afridi (3-22), Abrar Ahmed (3-37) and Abbas Afridi (2-30).

Muqeen claimed the final wicket, but his four overs were expensive, going for 53, including six sixes.

SOUTH AFRICA Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (capt, w/k), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Andile Simelane, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Ottniel Baartman

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Rizwan (capt, w/k), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed