Miller feels Proteas peaking at right time for World Cup

David Miller says the Proteas remain confident as they play their final competitive T20 on Tuesday ahead of this month’s World Cup in Australia.

The Proteas will have two warm-up friendlies soon after they arrive in Australia but the third and final T20 against India in Indore on Tuesday (3.30pm GMT) will be anything but a dead rubber.

Miller smashed a 47-ball unbeaten 106 in the second match against India in Guwahati on Sunday but it was in vain as SA fell 16 runs short of their huge target of 238.

But the lefthander says the team are bullish despite the loss which came after they were cleaned up by the Indian seamers in the first encounter.

“There are a lot of stories in the past, with one being Australia not doing too well before the World Cup [in 2021] and they end up winning the World Cup,” the 33-year-old Miller said.

“I don’t think it’s too much to worry about. As I said, there are a few areas that we can work on and think that will always be the case. We are feeling really confident with a lot of areas.”

Enforcer Miller believes the main thing to getting them so close to India’s winning total on Sunday, was his partnership with fellow left-hander Quinton de Kock.

The duo shared an unbeaten 174-run fourth-wicket partnership, taking the visitors closer than many expected.

However, their slow start, which saw them score 45 runs while losing two early wickets in the power play and then one right after its conclusion, that of Aiden Markram for 33, played a role in handing India victory and the series.

Walking in to bat with the side on 47/3, Miller said he and De Kock decided to see how far they could take the innings.

“It was just about trying to bat as clearly as we could. Form some sort of partnership and see where the game unfolds later on.

“We had to go, but we kind of took our time a bit, at that stage, the partnership was a little more important, which we did, and we got pretty close at the end, so it was a bit disappointing to not get the win,” he said.

Miller felt SA’s batting and bowling departments were talented in their own right, and it was now just a case of both units being able to fire at the same time to remain competitive throughout the match.

“If we have to be harsh on ourselves, our bowling department was extremely good in the previous game, and tonight they were slightly off in a few areas.

“In saying that, there were over 400 runs scored in the game, so I don’t want to be too harsh on the bowlers, a little lack of execution at times, there are a few areas we can work on and we still have some time leading up to the World Cup,” he said.