For a while in their stiff run-chase of the 212 target, South Africa felt like second-favourites against India until David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen combined to form one of the most explosive stands one will see. The duo took the game away from the hosts and helped the visitors take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series in Delhi on June 9.
At 81/3 in the back half of the ninth over in the chase, Proteas stared down the barrel, with the asking rate climbing up to 11 an over. But a memorable stand of 131 runs between Miller and van der Dussen allowed South Africa to scale the mountain and make a winning start to their trip.
Dussen, who began slightly precariously, found his mojo after a drop catch by Shreyas Iyer in the deep and went on a spree of boundary hitting. He eventually top-scored on the night for the Proteas, making an unbeaten 75 off 46 balls, including seven fours and five sixes. Given the small nature of the ground, Dussen tried to optimise each of his strokes with perfect timing and never looked to over hit the ball for sixes.
Talking of dimensions, no ground in the world is big enough when Miller is in such killer form. The left-hander, who had arguably his best Indian Premier League season with the bat recently for Gujarat Titans, carried his form into the India series and made a wonderful start, playing a brutal, impactful knock of 64 not out off 31 balls.
Miller’s hitting prowess was too good for even India’s quality death-overs duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/43) and Harshal Patel (1/43), who simply couldn’t stop the onslaught by the South African maverick. Those present at the Feroz Shah Kotla were lucky to witness one of the better T20I innings played by a touring batter in India.
The Miller-Dussen partnership went at such a click that it begged belief it wasn’t the flattest of tracks. The surface offered some early seam movement and a bit of dryness to the spinners to work with, too, which was reflective in the struggles of a usually free-flowing Quinton de Kock, who made 22 off 18 balls. Covering for his innings, apart from Miller and Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius played a little impactful cameo of 28 off 13 balls.
India failed to control the flow of runs, which was summed by the fact that their most economical bowler on the night – Avesh Khan (0/35) – went for 8.80 runs an over. Axar Patel (1/40) was good for the best of his four-over spell, but Miller ruined his numbers with a string of boundaries towards the end.
Earlier in the game, India, asked to bat first after losing the toss, tried to stay in line for a sizeable score, with their designated openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad taking risks in the powerplay.
It was a scratchy, unconvincing stand for most parts, but India would’ve taken a first-wicket partnership of 57 with both hands. Gaikwad fell for 23 off 15 but Kishan went on to make a 76 off 48 balls.
Iyer (36) kept India on track by consistently going after the South African spinners – Tabraiz Shamsi (0/27) and Keshav Maharaj (1/43) – before stand-in captain Rishabh Pant (29) and comeback man Hardik Pandya (31*) provided the innings with some final touches. The Proteas, too, had none of their bowlers really stitching together a strong spell in what was essentially a high-scoring game won by the quality of the Miller-Dussen duet.
Brief scores
India 211/4 in 20 overs (Kishan 76, Iyer 36; Parnell 1/32) lost to South Africa 212/3 in 19.1 overs (van der Dussen 75*, Miller 64*; Khan 0/35) by seven wickets
