Former South African wicketkeeper-batter Mark Boucher has expressed concern over David Miller’s struggles against spin bowling, which contributed to the Proteas’ 61-run defeat to India in the first T20I. Boucher also highlighted the South African bowlers’ inability to exploit the pitch conditions.
During the middle overs, Miller and Heinrich Klaasen struggled to find boundaries while chasing a 203-run target. Both batters were dismissed in the same over by Varun Chakravarthy, dealing a significant blow to their team’s chances.
Boucher particularly highlighted the 11th over bowled by Ravi Bishnoi, where Miller played five consecutive dot balls before finally managing a single. “David Miller wasn’t picking a thing at all. I mean, there’s one over there where I think he missed four out of the six deliveries he faced. So yeah, he was bowled really well tonight, and it just goes to show two quality spinners. There was something there for the bowlers on that wicket. Something that South African bowlers could not exploit,” Boucher said.
In the subsequent over, Klaasen hit a six on the second delivery. However, Chakravarthy soon had Klaasen caught at long-on and then dismissed Miller for 18, who mistimed a shot to deep square leg.
Boucher further pointed out how Bishnoi cleverly used his seam to extract help from the surface. “I was watching a couple of his (Ravi Bishnoi) balls come out a little bit different and I think what he did really well tonight, especially in the dark, is he changed the seam up. Sometimes you look at the ball, especially as a wicket-keeper as well. You look at the ball and see if you can see it spinning different ways. But he muddled his seam up very nicely,” he added.
In the match, India batted first and posted a challenging 202/8, thanks to Sanju Samson’s blitz. South Africa’s bowlers struggled to contain the Indian batters, with Gerald Coetzee being the only exception with three wickets.
In the run chase, South Africa’s batters failed to put up a decent performance. No Proteas batters could cross the 30-run mark. Heinrich Klaasen (25 runs) and Gerald Coetzee (23 runs) were the highest run scorers for the hosts.
The Indian bowling attack was led by Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, who bundled out the hosts at 141 with two overs remaining. Both Varun and Bishnoi picked up three wickets in the game.
Samson was named the Player of the Match following his stellar show with the bat. India will take on South Africa in the second T20I match of the series on Sunday in Gqeberha.
