South Africa’s all-rounder David Miller reflected on the loss in the T20 World Cup against India. He recalled the moment Hardik Pandya bowled the very first ball of the last over when South Africa needed 16 runs to win the final. Miller said that he wasn’t expecting a full-toss during the crunch moment of the game and couldn’t time it well. He seemed dejected as he talked about Suryakumar Yadav’s catch on that very ball and felt like he let his country down during that time.
“Sport is not fair for everyone. I wouldn’t have done anything different on that ball, accept for timing it better. I wasn’t actually expecting a full toss like that. I always do kind of have a full toss in mind, but it just caught me a little bit off guard and I got it just slightly wrong. But it was a little breeze that was kind of coming across us. Not necessarily into us. But it was slightly more in and across,” Miller told ESPNCricinfo.
David Miller miscues Hardik’s delivery
Suryakumar Yadav took arguably the catch of the tournament in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 as he dismissed David Miller in the final over of the match on Saturday, June 29 at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. Notably, Miller stood as the last hope of South Africa as they needed 16 runs to win off the last over.
Miller felt that he had put in the right strength, but it felt short only for Suryakumar to pull off a T20 World Cup winning catch.
“So the margins are so small so it was really frustrating. I thought I had enough on it. I knew it was going to be tight. You know, you kind of get that feeling as soon as you hit it, you know it’s going to be. Thought I had enough but yah, it just kind of held up and the rest is history,” he added.
“Felt like I let my country down”
Miller ended up hitting a full toss from Hardik Pandya on the first ball of the over, which went miles in the air and went straight down to the throat of Suryakumar Yadav at long on. The India star showed great presence of mind as he managed to grab hold of the ball inside the boundary and quickly got rid of it as he stepped over.
Miller revealed what emotions he felt at that moment as the maiden World Cup title slipped away from South Africa’s hands.
“Frustration, disappointment, failure. All these negative things come into your head. It was the moment for me to win the game. But it wasn’t for me to do it. I felt like I had let the country down, I have let myself down and my teammates down. It’s quite a difficult moment to wrap around.”
