Miller stands tall amidst ruins as South Africa fold for 212

A century from David Miller saw South Africa to 212 in tricky batting conditions against Australia in the second semifinal of World Cup 2023. Miller's sixth ODI hundred, coming on an Eden Gardens surface assisting both seamers and spinners, helped South Africa recover from 24 for 4 after opting to bat.

Batting under overcast skies was something even Pat Cummins admitted wanting to do, but it took only a few overs from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to hammer home the point that batting wasn't going to be easy against the new ball. Bavuma lasted all of five deliveries at the crease, edging behind a delivery from Starc on nought but it was Hazlewood at the other end who proved to be more of a menace.

Hazlewood's first spell read 6-1-12-2, the two wickets being that of de Kock (caught at mid-on after a string of dot balls) and Rassie van der Dussen (edged to second slip). Starc wasn't too far behind at the other end, bowling seven overs on the trot and picking 2 for 18 in his first spell. Markram was the other batter Starc accounted for with an edge to backward point.

So tight were the lines and lengths from the new-ball bowlers, and so good Australia's ground fielding, that South Africa huffed and puffed to 18/2 at the end of 10 overs. The first boundary of the match took as many as 53 balls to come.

What followed the four wickets was a 95-run association between Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, both of whom laid into inconsistent lengths from Adam Zampa. Six of the eight sixes hit in the innings were off Zampa's bowling, with both Miller and Klaasen hitting two each.

Just when SA looked a bit steady after having added 44 runs between overs 21 and 30, Travis Head struck gold in his first over and returned two wickets off two balls. Bowling slow and accurate, Head beat Klaasen for length and bowled him by skidding one past his outside edge. Next ball, Marco Jansen was pinned in front by one that spun in from a long way outside off. That's how difficult and fickle the conditions were in Kolkata.

There was another 53-run rearguard between Miller and Gerald Coetzee for the seventh wicket, with Miller doing most of the scoring in that partnership. It could have gone on for longer had Coetzee reviewed the decision for caught-behind; the short ball wasn't top-edged as the on-field umpire thought but deflected off his arm behind to the keeper.

Miller got to his hundred off 115 balls, hitting 8 fours and 5 sixes en route to a memorable innings in a World Cup knockout but he would rue not batting until the end of 50 overs. Two balls after reaching the milestone, Miller fell while trying to pull one of the many short balls that Pat Cummins bowled from round the wicket.

Brief Scores: South Africa 213 in 49.4 overs (Miller 101; Starc 3-34, Cummins 3-51, Halewood 2-12) vs Australia

Source: Cricbuzz