Ahmedabad, February 22 David Miller delivered a stunning performance, but Jasprit Bumrah's excellent bowling restricted South Africa to a par score of 187 for seven in the Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
Miller, nearing his 37th birthday, scored 63 off 35 balls, with support from young Dewald Brevis (45 off 29 balls), after Bumrah (3/15 in 4 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (2/28 in 4 overs) had reduced the Proteas to 20 for 3 within the first four overs.
Bumrah, who took two wickets in his first two overs for just seven runs, took one more wicket, conceding just 8 more runs in the 17th and 19th overs.
In total, he bowled 12 dot balls, amounting to two maiden overs.
Despite the early setbacks, veteran Miller and young Brevis launched a counter-attack that was both swift and aggressive.
They added 97 in just 8.2 overs, and their batting was characterized by their technique against spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/47 in 4 overs), who struggled on the day.
The duo hit six sixes (three each), but just when the Motera pitch started favoring stroke players, they both got out.
It was Tristan Stubbs (44 not out off 24 balls) who took South Africa past the 185-run mark with two huge sixes off the final two deliveries of the innings bowled by Hardik Pandya.
With the dew setting in, a total above 200 would have given the Proteas more confidence.
The Miller-Brevis Stand
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Both Miller and Brevis hit a six each off Chakravarthy within a few deliveries in the same over.
The manner in which they played Chakravarthy was commendable. They read his variations, maintained their shape, and generated extra power and elevation with a slight back-foot trigger.
However, one of Miller's sixes stood out: a powerful shot off Pandya, akin to a powerful forehand in tennis, that landed 10 rows behind the long-on boundary.
Miller completed his half-century in 26 balls with a six off Shivam Dube, whose pace-off delivery got the better of Brevis, who mistimed a cross-batted shot.
Bumrah's first spell
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When South Africa began their innings, Bumrah was in excellent form during his two-over opening spell. He dismissed the dangerous Quinton de Kock with a delivery that was angled into the left-hander after pitching slightly back of length.
De Kock played the shot, but the ball clipped the leg bail.
New batsman Ryan Rickleton faced a delivery that was angled across, leaving the outside edge of his bat, a display of Bumrah's top-notch skill.
Rickleton then pulled Arshdeep for a six after the seamer had dismissed skipper Aiden Markram with a delivery that gripped the surface, and he failed to check his uppish drive, becoming an easy catch at mid-off.
A similar delivery from Bumrah stopped and bounced slightly extra, hitting the upper part of Ricketon's willow and it lobbed up to the mid-off fielder.
