South Africa's David Miller reacts to their nailbiting win over the Netherlands at the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. Chasing the Netherlands total of just 103 for 9, South Africa were 12 for 4 before recovering to win by 6 wickets
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
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00:00 Good afternoon everyone. We've got David Miller at the top table from South Africa. As usual,
00:07 please make sure you've got a microphone in your hand before you ask a question. And Lucy
00:13 will take it from there.
00:18 David, well played. What were your thoughts at 12-4 when you walked out there in the middle
00:31 of the power play?
00:32 I don't actually know, to be honest. I think in that situation, it's obviously not a great
00:41 situation chasing 100 and we know the wickets. Like I said, it was definitely a lot better
00:47 than the previous game that we played. But yeah, I think in that situation, the only
00:52 thing you can control, which I've learnt over the years, is the very next ball. You can
00:59 quickly fall under a lot of pressure because there's still 90 or 80 to get and we're under
01:06 pressure. You can't get those in one ball. So it's just one ball at a time. Just try
01:12 and concentrate on the things that I can control - my breathing, my body language and facing
01:18 the next ball. So it's kind of those key things. And then obviously feeding a lot of confidence
01:25 off your partner as well. Stubbo was phenomenal out there. He always comes with a lot of energy
01:31 and he's young and he's powerful. I do know that in our batting line-up, we're boundary
01:37 strikers. So it's just about managing the singles and getting off strike and rotating
01:41 the strike and changing the momentum through that.
01:45 So with 29 needed off 24, you hit those two clutch sixes in the last three overs. But
01:56 with Klaasje and Stubbo having been caught, was that a big ask of yourself to be hitting
02:03 sixes in such a clutch time?
02:06 Yeah, and I can answer your question now. There was a lot more pressure at the back
02:10 end than when I went in for 14 for four. But I just think we have got over the line with
02:15 our tailenders and I kind of had a lot of faith in them. But in your mind, you do have
02:20 those thoughts that it has been difficult to get boundaries and now we need the boundaries.
02:26 So it's just about managing that space and just really trusting that if the ball is there,
02:32 you've got another option to really take it down. So fortunately it came off and I think
02:37 it's just about being in that positive frame of mind and making sure that you really capitalise
02:43 if they do give you the ball. So there were two or three bad balls there that I capitalised
02:49 on.
02:50 And just finally, there's a lot to choose from, but is that one of your more clutch
02:54 innings? Is that top three, top five?
02:57 Yeah, definitely. For me, it's all about situations and moments. And I think that was, given the
03:04 situation that we were in, I really enjoyed that innings. I really enjoyed getting over
03:09 the line and getting another two points.
03:13 Hi David, well played. Was there a point at which you thought, "I can't afford to get
03:18 out here, I have to be there at the end"?
03:22 Definitely. It definitely goes through your mind as a batter. Again, it's about getting
03:27 those thoughts and those negative thoughts and doubts in your head. We're all human,
03:32 we all get them. So it's just about making sure that I really get into the best frame
03:38 of mind. So those thoughts were there. And I knew I had to finish the game and stay in
03:44 at the end because it was difficult for the tail-enders to come in and get the boundaries
03:48 that we needed. So it was a little bit more pressure at the back end.
03:53 And obviously when the pitches were a bit more uneven than they have been here, it did
03:58 look like you've got to win the toss and bowl. Is that going to change now if you've had
04:03 another tight finish here? If the pitches are a bit better, are teams going to have
04:06 to think about maybe batting first?
04:07 Yeah, I suppose it's something that we are going to chat about. We're playing in two
04:11 days' time. Again, we're playing pretty early in the day, so if there's anything in the
04:18 wicket, you kind of want to take advantage of that. But if you end up on this kind of
04:23 wicket looking to chase 150, it can be 130. It can be a daunting task. So definitely something
04:31 we'll chat about and work out what's best for our team. And it's nice to have got two
04:36 chases, obviously low scores that we needed to get, but being clinical in the end of it.
04:43 But it's definitely a little bit different to what we're all used to.
04:51 Obviously the Netherlands have given you a couple of bloody noses in the last couple
04:55 of games. What are your feelings then in terms of beating them and ending that run? Because
05:01 they'd have been super pumped to have got one over you today.
05:05 Yeah, they've definitely played some good cricket over the years and they're still up
05:11 on us in the World Cups. But look, it was nice to get a win against them and as we all
05:18 know they're incredible players. They're fighters and they compete really well. So it's never
05:25 a case of taking any team lightly. I suppose it was just really nice to get over the line
05:32 today and again a close finish. So it was good.
05:36 Does it really show that the associate teams can raise their level and can compete? And
05:40 that's obviously one of the great things about this World Cup. It's against, for some teams,
05:45 new opponents, the Ugandans, PNGs of this world. Is this something you guys in the top
05:49 teams also like to see, these teams coming through?
05:53 Yeah, I mean I wouldn't say for us for them to get through. But look, it definitely presents
06:01 a great opportunity for all these teams, countries around the world to compete. There's already
06:08 been a couple of upsets and it's great for the game of cricket, although it's never nice
06:13 losing a game of cricket. But I think it's great to see and the level of competition
06:20 is definitely rising and you always see that in World Cups. So it's good for the game.
06:25 Thank you very much everyone.
06:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]