David Miller is still a clutch player
David Miller has a penchant of coming through when the Proteas need him the most
The delivery was on a length and angled into off-stump. David Miller doesn’t often miss out on balls such as this one, and on this occasion, he did not. The 34-year-old presented the full face of the bat to loft it over the in-field, clearing the fielder at extra cover. The shot yielded his third four and through it, he registered his seventh T20I half-century.
Bas de Leede sent in the next delivery on the same length but altered the line. This one was angled in towards middle and leg. From the time he was 12, Miller had a mantra, taught to him by his father, ‘if it’s in the arc, it’s out of the park. This one was in the arc. Miller pulled hard and sent the ball deep into the stands for six, his fourth six of the match, and with that, he won the match for the Proteas.
David Miller’s teammates joined Andrew Miller and Mike Bechet in collectively holding their breath. Miller’s reaction to this moment would determine his pedigree. Time slowed down, almost standing still, as the 14-year-old Miller picked himself up from the crease. He had been floored by an aggressive Scott Spedding short ball. The delivery has struck him on the chest, leaving a mark he would sport for a few days.
Spedding, who would later earn 23 caps for the French rugby national team, was 18 and one of the quickest and most fierce bowlers in schoolboy cricket. That Spedding delivery was the first ball Miller faced on his debut for Maritzburg College.
Andrew Miller, Miller’s father, and Bechet, Miller’s coach, along with the Maritzburg College bench, sighed with relief as they watched the youngster put on a brave face, doing his best to be as inscrutable and expressionless as possible and continue with his debut. Miller scored an impressive 42 off 69 to set the stage for Maritzburg College’s 88-run victory over St John’s.
In his next match, the 14-year-old Miller removed whatever lingering doubts on the minds of those who might have considered his debut showing a fluke. Facing an Affies bowling attack led by another tearaway, Neil Wagner, Miller registered his maiden half-century, a confident 67 off 70.
Miller had proven himself to be worthy of the opening spot.
In 2024, 20 years after his debut for Maritzburg College, Andrew Miller, Mike Bechet, and Miller’s teammates collectively held their breath as the Proteas star walked out to bat in the powerplay. The situation was far from ideal, South Africa had lost four wickets for 12 runs in 4.3 overs. Miller was the last recognised South African batter and losing him would leave South Africa in a world of trouble.
The difference was that Miller’s father, his longtime coach, and his teammates knew what the Proteas star could do. He had shown it over and over in his 14 years of international cricket. They had watched him score an outstanding unbeaten 118 off 79 balls to help South Africa pull off the second-highest-ever successful ODI chase in 2016 against Australia. Two years later, Miller would share a 252-run fourth-wicket partnership with Faf du Plessis to bat Australia out of the contest.
“Another one of my favourite knocks from David was his 101 not out versus Australia in the World Cup semi-final last year. He said that was the toughest pitch he had ever played on,” Andrew shared.
Miller’s career is replete with such moments of clutch performances, however, very few or none will compare with his unbeaten 59 off 51 balls against the Netherlands at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Andrew and Bechet both agree it is one of his best innings for the Proteas. “Dave displayed a calmness under such pressure and in the end, his class came through,” Bechet explained.
The ICC described the Nassau County pitch as a beautiful monster. Beautiful it is not, but it is a monster. An untamed surface that behaves like a wild horse. The true definition of unpredictability. A bowler can send down four identical deliveries on the same line and length and they will all behave differently. Some will carry to the keeper, others will roll, and a few will jag, while some will have tennis ball bounce.
The pitch was better than the one they faced Sri Lanka on. The bounce was less variable than the first couple of matches at the venue. But still slow and not easy to play on. However, the outfield also offered more of the same as last week. Hitting fours on them was no different to trying to cream boundaries on the beach. The best boundary option was a six, via the pull shot. Not the controlled pull shot, but rather the shovelling pull shot. And even then, the players who executed it were barely in control of the shots.
The conditions were so difficult some of the best strikers of the cricket ball in T20s, Miller and Tristan Stubbs, scored a mere 20 runs in the next 5.3 overs. They played out 11 consecutive dot balls in that period. The meagre tally does not reflect the duo’s intent. They were constantly scanning for scoring opportunities.
“I think in that situation, the only thing you can control, which I've learnt over the years, is the very next ball. You can quickly fall under a lot of pressure because there's still 90 or 80 to get and we're under pressure. You can't get those in one ball. So, it's just one ball at a time, I was just trying to concentrate on the things that I could control, my breathing, my body language and facing the next ball. So, it's kind of those key things and then obviously feeding a lot of confidence off your partner as well. Stubbs was phenomenal out there, he always comes with a lot of energy,” Miller shared after the match.
Miller and Stubbs’ 65-run partnership set the Proteas on course for victory. It might well go down as one of the best partnerships the pair has shared.
There is always a temptation to speak down on the match because it was against the Netherlands. The fact that it was 'just the Dutch' is why it matters. When South Africa lost their 2022 T20 World Cup match to the Netherlands, it was an upset. When Ryan Cook’s side defeated the Proteas at the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Dutch established themselves as South Africa’s bogeyman. It became a running joke; the Proteas could beat anyone but the Dutch.
Whether the Proteas discussed the Dutch as their nemesis or not in the dressing room, one thing was clear when they went up against them in India, South Africa had a touch of Dutch anxiety. In international cricket, the talent gap is quite narrow, everyone is talented and works as hard as the next player. What sets many apart is what happens in their heads. The Netherlands lived rent-free in the South Africans’ heads, asking them to doubt themselves.
David Miller didn’t just dig the Proteas out of a hole in a World Cup match, he helped wake up from a nightmare that spanned over two World Cups. Overcoming them on one of the most difficult pitches goes a long way in exorcising the spirit that haunted them.
As he has so often done over the past decade, Miller proved himself to still be worth his place in the squad. He is a clutch player.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS