David Miller picked up where he left off in India smashing 64 not out off 31 balls to guide South Africa to a seven wicket victory in the first of five T20Is in New Delhi on Thursday.
Coming in at No.5, Miller, who starred for India Premier League winners the Gujarat Titans recently, and Rassie van der Dussen took South Africa from 81/3 to 212/3 in a successful pursuit of India’s 211/4.
Before the two combined, India would have fancied their chances of a win after a superb batting display, following Proteas captain Temba Bavuma call to bowl first.
India then instantly made him regret that decision on a klein veldjie, with opener Ishan Kishan scoring 76 runs off 48 balls.
Helped by some rusty fielding by the visitors, Shreyas Iyer added 36 off 27 balls, Rishabh Pant 29 off 16 and Hardik Pandya an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls to help India to a big 211/4.
SA needed a fast start, but lost Bavuma (10) in the third over after he edged a Bhuvneshwar Kumar slower ball.
Dwaine Pretorius (29 off 13) then put SA in the driving seat, before he was clean bowled by a Harshal Patel slower ball.
And when Quinton de Kock (22) was caught on the boundary with SA’s score on 81/3, it was the start of their struggles with the bat as Rassie van der Dussen sukkeled to get going.
Simply sensational 🔥#INDvSA #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/UWJsxRWuLq
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) June 9, 2022
But Miller kept SA in it, smashing India’s bowlers to all corners.
Van der Dussen, who was dropped on 29, finally joined the party to score 74 not out off 72 balls in a match-winning 131-run partnership with Miller.
The second T20I will be played on Sunday at 3.30pm.
🚨 RESULT | #Proteas WIN BY 7 WICKETS
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) June 9, 2022
An incredible unbeaten 131-run partnership between David Miller (64*) and Rassie van der Dussen (75*) saw the #Proteas break the record books in Delhi to go 1-0 up in the 5-match T20I series#INDvSA #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/iYnibtADS1
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za