With the T20 World Cup 2022 around the corner, South Africa suffered a series defeat at the hands of India away from home.
However, Proteas batter David Miller isn’t reading too much into it, saying that the series loss won’t make them a lesser force heading into the marquee event in Australia.
Miller cited Australia’s title triumph in the 2021 edition despite their poor run ahead of the tournament to justify his point.
Notably, Australia had entered the T20 World Cup in UAE last year after five back-to-back series defeats in the shortest format but the Aaron Finch-led eventually emerged as the world champions.
“There’re a lot of stories in the past with one being Australia not doing too well before the World Cup, and then they end up winning the World Cup. So I don’t think it’s too much to worry about,” Miller told reporters after South Africa’s 16-run defeat in the second T20I in Guwahati.
“We’ve built up a really good squad over the last year and a half. We get on really well with each other. We’ve linked in nicely, great partnerships. We’ve won a lot of series last year.
“To have lost the series tonight was obviously very disappointing, but in the past we’ve really competed well and at least we can walk away with our heads held high, but it is still disappointing losing the series.”
Chasing 238 to win, the Proteas were struggling at 47/3 after 6.2 overs and it seemed that they will struggle to get near the target.
However, Miller produced one of the best counter-attacking knocks in the shortest format to leave everyone in awe. The southpaw wreaked havoc on the Indian bowlers and notched up his second T20I century in just 46 balls.
Miller eventually returned with 106 not out off 47 balls but his valiant innings went in vain as South Africa fell 16 runs short of the target.
“We didn’t bat well the previous game. We didn’t start this game too well but we managed to get a really good partnership and put on a competitive game at the end of it,” he stated.
Commenting on South Africa’s bowling performance, the left-hander said: “There were over 400 runs in the game, I don’t want to be too harsh on the bowlers, but I think that there was a little bit of lack of execution at times.
“But they were really good in the previous game — extremely good. A few areas that we can work on still leading up to the World Cup, so we still have time.”
The second T20I at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati witnessed a couple of interruptions. While a snake entered the field and halted the game during India’s innings, the floodlights went off during South Africa’s innings.
“You know, that’s out of our control, and it kind of just gave us a bit of time to just process what actually happened in the power play — the first couple of overs. It gave us a little bit of time to chat about it and think about the way forward.
“And then, there was the issue with the snake as well. So, I mean, there was a lot going on today.”
(With PTI inputs)
