David Miller backs New Zealand to win it all on Sunday while expressing annoyance over haphazard scheduling.
David Miller and Kane Williamson bumped into each other after New Zealand had wrapped up a convincing victory that secured safe passage into the final.
Miller was about to begin his media obligations, which Williamson had just completed. A kind grin and a cosy embrace were shared. Miller remained, the disappointment on his face magnified, as Williamson went.
Miller stated his desire for the final, which his team will once again miss out on, proving that their friendliness was more than just a fleeting mood. “I’ll tell you the truth. “I believe I’ll be rooting for New Zealand,” he declared.
Although South Africa and New Zealand have historically gotten along well, Miller’s good wishes during this tournament might have been motivated by empathy based on similar experiences. Both South Africa and New Zealand have been to Dubai and back from Pakistan in the past week. After playing India in their last group match there on Saturday, New Zealand returned early on Monday to participate in this semi-final.
In order to ensure they would have enough time to get ready for an earlier semi-final in Dubai, South Africa, on the other hand, flew out to Dubai from Karachi on Sunday after playing against England the day before. Less than 12 hours after arriving in Dubai, they took the next flight back to Lahore as the results became known, indicating that they would not need to play there after all.
“It’s only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that [was not ideal],” Miller said. “It’s early morning, it’s after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4pm. And at 7.30 in the morning we had to come back. It doesn’t make it nice. It’s not like we flew five hours, and we had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was not an ideal situation still.”
But he conceded that New Zealand was the superior team and the rightful winner in this semifinal. Miller reached an undefeated 67-ball century off the game’s last ball, concluding the match on a melancholy note. He had the chance to celebrate the birth of his son by rocking his arms back and forth, but Miller claimed that he would “rather have played badly” and that South Africa had won.
“There were really good contributions, a couple of fifties up front. We had a really good foundation. Unfortunately, in the middle, we lost a couple of wickets too many. At the end of the day, it’s a team effort. Everyone’s trying out there to do their best. It would have been nice to have a rematch against India. But life is not fair sometimes. Anyone has to work really hard to achieve trophies.”