Miller’s fitness boosts recent runner-up South Africa at the T20 World Cup
A fitness clearance for veteran middle-order batter David Miller has boosted South Africa as it heads to the Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, attempting to improve on its runner-up finish in the last tournament.
The 36-year-old Miller is one of the best finishers in world cricket and his late confirmation in the Proteas squad adds another feature to an already strong lineup. He had an adductor muscle strain and was in doubt until his clearance last weekend.
South Africa has been a regular semifinalist in ICC tournaments in recent years and finally broke its major international trophy drought when it won the last World Test Championship. It hopes that experience will boost it at the coming tournament.
The Proteas have built depth across all three formats, demonstrated when it lost to injuries Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira from its initial World Cup squad and called in Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs as replacements, both top-class T20 players.
Wicketkeeper Rickelton has a T20 international strike rate of 142 and both are able to bat deep and be closers if needed. Stubbs has considerable experience in the Indian Premier League.
South Africa surprised many when it named a bowling lineup with a heavy emphasis on pace. Those bowlers performed relatively well in recent white-ball series in India.
Kagiso Rabada is fit after recent injuries and joins a pace group including Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka and Lungi Ngidi. George Linde and Keshav Maharaj provide the frontline spin alternative.
“We are returning to the subcontinent where we recently competed against hosts India,” coach Shukri Conrad said. “The experience we gained playing in those conditions will undoubtedly benefit us.
“Many of the players selected for the World Cup squad were on that trip and experienced first-hand the pitches that we will likely encounter, and that will stand them in good stead.”
A feature of the South Africa squad which will be captained by Aiden Markram is the depth and experience of its batting. Quinton de Kock returns at the top of the order after a short-lived retirement.
“There’s lots of firepower. There are match winners,” former South Africa captain Graeme Smith said. “It’ll be interesting to see what combinations Shukri and the team come up with. Some grounds are challenging to defend, some wickets play flat and then your bowlers are really tested.
“So the bowling combinations will be tested but there’s enough in that squad to go deep in the tournament.”
Smith backs Stubbs to make an impact, pointing to his match-winning unbeaten 63 in the local SA20 final.
“His power, the experiences he has, we’ve seen it in the IPL, for South Africa and in the SA20,” he said. “That innings would have given him a world of confidence. He’s a confident player anyway but he would have grown in stature.
“He’s had to fight back from a few disappointments in the last six months. I always love it when a player under pressure shows his worth on a big stage like a final. Hopefully he takes that feeling, that form and confidence into the World Cup.”
South Africa is drawn in Group D with Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand and UAE.
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