David Miller – consistent despite some disappointing dismissals

David Miller has arguably been the most consistent Proteas batsman of the World Cup, having made four scores of between 31 and 38, and he has appealed for some clemency by saying two of his dismissals have come when he was chasing quick runs.

Miller began the tournament with two disappointing dismissals, both of which epitomised the Proteas’ curse in this tournament of batsmen getting set but not being able to go on to a big score. In both cases he was dismissed in the 36^th over of the innings via leading edges when he should have been playing the deliveries that dismissed him straighter rather than through the leg-side.

The match situations were slightly different though.

Against Bangladesh, he was dismissed with South Africa needing 129 runs in 15 overs – they would end up going down by 21 runs. Versus India, he was trying to stabilise the innings, coming in at 78 for three and having added 46 in 13 overs with Andile Phehlukwayo.

His 36 against New Zealand ended in the 45^th over, having added 72 in 12 overs with Rassie van der Dussen, while Pakistan dismissed him for 31 in the 41^st over, when the Proteas already needed more than 10 runs an over to win.

“As a batting unit, we’ve had starts but we haven’t kicked on and that’s been through the tournament. I really wanted to make a difference here, but I’ve scored four thirties. But two of the dismissals have come at the back end of the innings, when I had to go for it, otherwise the other two I could have put in a big performance. So there’s disappointment all round.

“We haven’t finished the job, there haven’t been enough partnerships or any hundreds. I don’t feel personally that my confidence is low, it’s just a lack of execution. And I don’t know why it hasn’t happened for us, it’s just poor execution, one of those things. It’s definitely not because of a lack of effort and we all really want to win for our country. We’re doing the right things, but not for an extended period,” Miller said.

While Miller has shown the ability to cart top-class bowling attacks all over the field, the left-handed batsman is now 30 and there are many who are saying that he should be one of the players cut from the national squad because a clean-out is necessary ahead of the next four-year cycle after arguably South Africa’s biggest World Cup failure ever.

But Miller himself sings a different tune, stressing how playing 50-over cricket for the Proteas is his absolute priority.

“I thoroughly enjoy playing for my country, I love the pressure and I’m willing to take full responsibility when we fail, I’ll cop the abuse. You have to accept that because the ups and downs are part of the game and when we do well the rewards are so high. I do have a couple of T20 gigs but this [playing ODIs] is my first priority,” Miller said.

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