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South African batter David Miller will be aiming to continue his brilliant run in ICC events' knockout matches when they take to the field at iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.
South Africa and New Zealand, two excellent white-ball sides who are yet to win a World Cup event, be it the 20-over or the 50-over, will get a chance to play India or England in the title clash for their first-ever ICC T20 World Cup crown. For the 2024 runners-up, South Africa, Miller will be the key, with an exceptional record in ICC tournament knockout matches. Miller will be aiming to make up for being caught by Suryakumar Yadav at long-off during the 2024 T20WC final at Barbados by firing a couple more times to guide his side to the T20I crown. Miller has featured in nine ICC event knockout matches, scoring 350 runs in six innings at an average of 116.66 and a strike rate of 124.55, with two centuries and a fifty. His knocks at the ICC KO matches are as follows: 56* in 51 balls against England in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 semifinals (losing cause) -23* in 12 balls against India in ICC T20 World Cup 2014 semifinals (losing cause) -49 in 18 balls against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semifinals (losing cause) -101 in 116 balls against Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semifinals (losing cause) -21 in 17 balls against India in ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals (losing cause) -100* in 67 balls against New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy semifinals (losing cause) Miller has been perhaps one of the unluckiest cricketers of the modern era. While Proteas recently shed their 'chokers' tag with a landmark ICC World Test Championship title win last year at Lord's against Australia under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma, the left-hander is yet to get his hands on an ICC title despite standing tall on so many occasions for his team. So far in the tournament this year, Miller has scored 168 runs in five innings at an average of 84.00, ending unbeaten thrice in five innings and scoring his runs at a strike rate of 158.49. His best knock came against India, where he scored a valuable 63 to help the Proteas recover from 20/3 inside the powerplay to reach 187/7. The veteran batter, who is highly likely to be playing his last T20 World Cup, will be aiming to continue his happy run with the bat, just with the hope that, for once, he gets the support he deserves from his team. (ANI)
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