David Miller promised to buy Mohammad Saifuddin a drink after caning him for five sixes in a row on his way to a record-breaking 101 in the final T20 against Bangladesh.
The middle-order batsman slammed the fastest hundred in T20 history when he reached the magical mark off 35 balls, beating the record held by Richard Levi since 2012 by 10 balls. He was unbeaten at the end on 101.
After five sixes in the 19th over, Miller failed to connect properly with the sixth and took just a single. Had he made it, he would have joined Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh as the only batsmen to have hit six sixes in international cricket.
“It is pretty special,’ said Miller. ‘It’s not something you wake up to in the morning, thinking that’s going to happen today, so it is really great to be on the board.’
The agony for Bangladesh is that they could have had him off the second ball he faced, before he had scored. He gloved a short ball from Mushfiqur! Rubel down the leg side which the keeper could not hold.
‘i was pretty scratchy from the start,’ admitted Miller. ‘I think I could have been out twice in the first 10 balls. But then I got one or two through and I just figured I would keep going and see what would happen.’
What happened was an innings striking at 280, which contained nine sixes and seven fours. It took South Africa from 78-3 to 157-4 in partnership with Hashim Amla, who ended with 85.
Miller, who was Man of the Match and Man of the Series, did not bat in the first ODI and sat out the next two with a groin injury. In the first T20 he hit a sedate 25 off 19. ‘Whenever you get the chance to play for your country you want to do well. Our top order have been in great form, so there hasn’t been much opportunity for the middle order. It is great to get the chance.
‘After four balls in that 19th over, I really thought I could do it [six sixes]. the fifth came out nicely too. But then, that’s just one of those things.’
What did he say to the hapless bowler? ‘Unlucky. Well tried. That’s how it goes. I am sure we will exchange a drink or two later.’
Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan said: ‘There are only a few players who can change a game on their own and Miller is one. We had our chances, We got AB out and we could have got Miller out early. But once he was in, there was no stopping him. He had all the answers. There was nothing we could do.’
Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
