David Miller stars again as Gujurat win IPL final

David Miller played a starring role once again as the Gujurat Titans cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the Rajasthan Royals in the final of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening.

Despite chasing a below-par total of 131 to win, and coming in with the Titans well on course on 86/3 in the 14^th over, Miller absolutely dominated an unbeaten fourth wicket stand of 47 with Shubman Gill (45no), striking 32 off 19 balls, clubbing three fours and a six to help shut the door on the Royals.

Asked after the game if he thought it was his best showing at an IPL a beaming Miller said: “This is definitely my best one, we are champions.”

First innings struggles

In the match the Royals batted first and struggled on their way to 130/9 at the end of their 20 overs.

Orange cap holder Jos Buttler was again their best batter, striking 39 but at a relatively slow rate off 35 balls, while his fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (22) was the only other batter to get over 20.

Captain Hardik Pandya put in an all-round showing and led with the ball picking up 3/17 for his side.

The Titans chase was then setup by Gill and Pandya (34 off 30 balls) as they shared in a 63-run third wicket partnership, allowing Miller to come in and play the finishing role he is known for, as they made it home with 11 balls to spare.

Brilliant tournament

In all it was a brilliant tournament for Miller, who finished as the sixth-highest run scorer with the best average in the competition (68.71).

He managed a best score of 94 not out, but arguable his best effort was in the final play-off, also against the Royals, where he smashed an unbeaten 68 off 38 balls to lead the team into the final, and was duly awarded the man-of-the-match award.

Miller will now hope to take this form into the Proteas T20 tour of India next month as they start their preparations for the T20 World Cup in Australia at the end of the year.