Birthday special: David Miller – Top 3 international knocks of the Protea batsman

An aggressive left-handed batter from South Africa, David Miller is renowned for his ability to hit the cricket ball out of the park with ridiculous ease. After over a decade in international cricket, he has represented his nation in 134 ODIs and 81 T20Is, amassing 3331 and 1525 runs respectively. As he turns 32, here is a look at this top three knocks in international cricket –

3) 118 vs Australia, 2016

Australia toured South Africa for a five-match ODI series in 2016. Going into the third ODI at Kingsmead, Durban, the hosts led the series 2-0. Trying not to concede the series, Australia fought and racked up a giant total of 371 on the back of centuries from Steve Smith (108) and David Warner (117).

After a solid start during the chase courtesy of openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla, Australia made sudden inroads to reduce South Africa to 179/4. In a brutal assault that followed, David Miller smashed 10 fours and six sixes in a 79-ball knock, scoring 118 that took his team to chase the target with 4 balls and as many wickets to spare.

2) 139 vs Australia, 2018

During South Africa’s tour to Australia for a three-match ODI series in 2018, the two teams faced off in the decider at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval. With the series poised at 1-1, South Africa batted first and was reeling at 55/3 when David Miller smacked a 108-ball 139 including 13 fours and four sixes and added a whopping 252 runs for the fourth wicket alongside Faf du Plessis (125 from 114) to take his team to 320/5. Even though Shaun Marsh fought with a century in response, South Africa managed to restrict the hosts to 280, eventually winning by 40 runs to clinch the series 2-1.

1) 101 vs Bangladesh, 2017

Bangladesh visited South Africa for a two-match T20I series back in 2017. Having lost the first T20I at Bloemfontein, the visitors had the chance to level the series at Potchefstroom, only for David Miller’s whirlwind to throw them into tatters. Miller belted as many as nine sixes and seven fours in a record unbeaten knock of 101 off merely 36, which to this day stands as the joint-fastest century in T20Is. Set 225 for the win, Bangladesh was wrapped for a paltry 141 as South Africa clean-swept their rivals 2-0 and won by a massive margin of 83 runs.