IT’S MILLER TIME
Explosive Proteas batsman must do even better at the Wanderers today
DAVID Miller’s secret wish was to be South Africa’s batting major-general in the absence of the senior players. It was a case of getting what you’ve been wishing for.
With the much-vaunted senior players occupying his favoured No 4 spot, making it count while they’re taking a well-deserved breather goes without saying.
The importance of his 18-ball 40 in Friday’s 10-over gamble in the first T20 against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park could not be overstated in the context of the shortened match.
It has to be replicated with an innings of even bigger value and importance in today’s second T20 at the Wanderers.
A Sri Lankan side at pretty much full strength, bar the absence of the sick Lasith Malinga, should have had the measure of a Proteas side that featured five debuts.
Such was the confidence of Farhaan Behardien, they did not panic even though pocket-sized opener Niroshan Dickwella led a rocket-fuelled start that was stymied by Imran Tahir’s leg-spinning wiles. Miller said he wanted to add value that was more than runs and hopes to do the same at the Bullring
“I may have mishit a few, but I enjoy contributing to the team and this new T20 side is a great stepping stone for us. It was very good for us to win the first game and getting some sort of momentum for the second game,” Miller said.
“When you play for 10 overs, you have to put your pride aside and contribute to the best of your ability like everyone else can. We’ve got 11 players who have to score the runs as quickly as possible. If it doesn’t come off and you’ve scored at 150 strike rate, you may feel like you’ve done your job.”
With the ICC Champions Trophy the pinnacle of limited-overs matches this year, it is understandable that T20 takes a back seat.
After the next two matches, South Africa will play only one in New Zealand, as compared to the five ODIs against Sri Lanka and the same number in New Zealand. They will play three in England ahead of the Champions Trophy in early June.
To an outsider, this could be a series that lacks context in the cramped international cricket schedule, but the settled nature of the test and ODI sides doesn’t allow any room for experimentation.
While Sri Lanka looked like and played like a battle-hardened unit before their midinnings collapse, the young debutants, with the exception of Heino Kuhn, were in need of a platform to showcase what they bring to the place.
It is highly unlikely they will break into the longer format teams, but that is the least of Miller’s worries.
The likes of Lungi Ngidi, Theunis de Bruyn, Mangaliso Mosehle and Jon-Jon Smuts may not get many international opportunities once the T20 World Cup becomes the next target, but the selectors had to find a way to reward those who performed in the Cricket South Africa franchise T20 challenge.
“It’s unfortunate that the fixtures are a bit short on the international stage. If you look at the New Zealand tour, there’s only one T20 and in this series there’s three, so that tells you about the lack of T20 matches. There’s also the quick turnaround so we’re together for about 10 days and that’s pretty much it,” Miller said.
“We need to make sure we get to know each other as quickly as possible and even though we don’t have much time, things like these do help hugely. We’re in a great spirit and we’ve got some good momentum for the next game.”