Watch: David Miller pulled Pat Cummins for a six to bring up the very first hundred by a South Africa player in a men’s World Cup knockout game during the Australia-South Africa semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today (November 16).
South Africa, who won the toss and chose to bat first, got off to a poor start in the semi-final, losing 4 wickets in the first 12 overs. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood enjoyed the cloudy weather and caused problems for the South African batsmen by bouncing and swinging the new ball.
Heinrich Claassen and Miller saved South Africa’s innings, scoring 95 runs for five wickets beforeTravis Head pushed South Africa back again with 2-2.
But Miller remained resolute and picked his battles perfectly. He hit Adam Zampa for 46 and paid tribute to the other bowlers who kept it close.
Miller reached 50 from 70 balls in 32 overs with a draw from Glenn Maxwell. In his next fifty, he took 44 more balls and pulled further to reach the milestone in the 47th over, this time crossing the boundary in the sixth over. This was the first century played in a men’s World Cup final by a South African batsman.
He was sent off soon after and attempted another pull shot, but it ended up falling to deep square leg. Batting at 87.06 was Miller’s slowest in six ODI hundreds and underlined how difficult it was to bat on the sticky Eden Gardens pitch.
South Africa finished their innings with 212 innings, just one short of the formidable 213 they had recorded in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against the same opponents.
Watch David Miller bring up century with a six:
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