 "David Miller on his dismissal in T20 World Cup final: 'Felt like I let the country down'")
South African batter David Miller opened up on his dismissal in the final over of the T20 World Cup final against India in June, saying he felt like he “had let the country down”.
The explosive middle-order batter was batting on 21 off 16 deliveries, with South Africa needing 16 to win off the last six balls, when he struck a wide full toss from Hardik Pandya down the ground at the start of the final over.
The ball would have landed on the other side of the rope for a six and would have brought the equation down to 10 off five had it not been for Suryakumar Kumar's brilliant running catch at the edge of the boundary rope.
Read | Did Surya touch the boundary rope in T20 World Cup final catch?
Though all-rounder Pandya got struck for a four in the next delivery by Kagiso Rabada, he managed to keep things tidy in the last four balls to seal a seven-run win for the Men in Blue , ending their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.
For the Proteas, the T20 World Cup final was the closest they had come to winning a global-level event since the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy in 1998 and Miller, for one, is yet to move on from the heartbreak in Barbados.
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More Shorts“I watch a lot of different sport and I always talk about ’the moment’. There are always moments to win the game and I suppose that was the moment to win the game. And it wasn’t to be for me,” Miller told ESPNCricinfo.
“I felt like I let the country down, I’ve myself down, I’ve let my teammates down. So it’s quite a difficult moment to unwrap. It was a very hollow feeling, I almost just didn’t want to walk off the field, wanted to have another go.
“So it’s a bit cruel, but such is life. Like I said, there’s many other people, sportsmen that have had really tough moments to try and get over, and I’m not the only person it has happened to,” Miller added.
Read | 'It's just hurts a lot': Aiden Markram on South Africa's defeat in T20 World Cup final
Having reached a World Cup final in either white-ball format for the first time after thrashing Afghanistan in the semi-finals, South Africa were set a target of 177 by India after the Men in Blue elected to bat in the showdown at Barbados’ Kensington Oval.
The Proteas were then off to a shaky start, getting reduced to 12/2 before handy knocks from Quinton de Kock (39) and Tristan Stubbs (31) along with Heinrich Klaasen’s blazing half-century (52 off 27 balls) put them in the driver’s seat.
Klaasen’s fiery knock, which included five sixes and two fours, helped bring the equation down to just 26 off 24 balls with six wickets in hand. With Miller by his side, the prospect of chasing down the target had appeared a mere cakewalk at that point.
Pandya’s dismissal of Klaasen at the start of the 17th over, however, marked the beginning of an incredible fightback from the Indians as India would concede just 10 runs in the next three overs while collecting two wickets to build pressure on South Africa.
Pandya would then seal the deal with a memorable final over, in which he conceded six and collected two wickets – dismissing Rabada four balls after Miller — as India finally ended their jinx in ICC events.
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