South African star batter David Miller is known for his big hitting, especially in the shortest format. He is regarded as one of the best finishers in T20 cricket. Last year in the Indian T20 League, he was one of the key players for the Gujarat-based franchise, helping them lift their maiden title in the tournament. Miller is currently playing in South Africa's SA20 for Paarl Royals.
In the 18th match of the SA20 league, when Royals clashed with Pretoria Capitals at Boland Park in Paarl, Miller took a stunning catch during the first innings of the match. Tabraiz Shamsi was bowling the eighth over of the innings. On his ball, Kusal Mendis tried to play a shot towards midwicket but the ball took an extra bounce and got a leading edge of the bat. Miller ran in his opposite direction, from midwicket to square leg region, dived forward, and grabbed a one-handed screamer.
Watch the video here:
GUN GRAB BY MILLERRRR 🔥#SA20 pic.twitter.com/7YdFptXS66
— naeemah (@NaeemahBenjamin) January 22, 2023
David Miller plays a captain's knock
Talking about the match, the Capitals put up a target of 159 runs for the Royals to chase. A composed half-century by Theunis de Bruyn and Kusal Mendis’ knock of 37 runs off 26 balls helped the Capitals score 158/6 in their 20-over quota. As for the Royals, Ferisco Adams managed to pick up two wickets, while Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Evan Jones, and Shamsi finished with a wicket each.
Chasing the target, Royals' openers Jason Roy and Wihan Lubbe started brilliantly. After their 48-run opening partnership, Dane Vilas and Jos Buttler put up a 65-run stand for the third wicket, which kept the Royals in contention for winning. Their wickets put the Royals in trouble, but Miller played the captain’s knock. He dominated with the bat in the 42-run fifth partnership with Mitchell Van Buuren, scored 28*(14) hitting four boundaries, and led his side to a brilliant six-wicket win in the final over. The Royals dragged this longer than needed, but the home crowd will be happy that the team picked up important points.