Century should give Bavuma a lift, says Miller

Proteas batsman David Miller says Temba Bavuma’s century against England in Bloemfontein on Sunday will give him confidence and belief going forward. 

Despite being a prolific batter in international Test cricket, Bavuma has been struggling to get going in the limited overs and has been under a lot of scrutiny since being named captain. Against England in the five-wicket win that gave the Proteas the three-game series win, Bavuma scored 109 from 102 balls. 

Miller, who finished off the chase with 58 from 37 balls, praised Bavuma for his display, saying the team was proud to see him get the 100. 

“It would be silly for me to say I wasn’t happy, it was one of the most exciting times for us to see Temba score a 100, not necessarily the 100 but the way he did it,” said Miller when speaking to the media ahead of today’s game against England at the Oval (1pm), Kimberly. 

“He’s been working extremely hard behind the scenes at his game and trying to find different ways to score, especially in the white ball stuff. He was outstanding, with the maturity he battered with and tempo, and going to a match-winning knock like that to get a win.

“Very chuffed for him, great learnings for that, I think he learnt a lot from that as well; to show everyone and himself that he can score at a very healthy strike rate with good cricket shots,” he said. 

Although the series is won, there is plenty to play for, the Proteas desperately need the 10 points on offer to get into the top eight of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League for automatic qualification in the world cup hosted in India later this year. 

The Proteas are in ninth place with 79 points. A win against England today will see them go to 8th place above the West Indies who have 88 points. 

“We want to get into the top eight, for us, every ODI is an important event. It becomes more necessary right now to be as clinical as we can and not take the foot off the paddle and be up for it mentally,” Miller said.