South Africa’s David Miller shared his worries about his team’s very short trip to Dubai before they lost the Champions Trophy semi-final to New Zealand in Lahore. The tournament schedule was very tight, and both Australia and South Africa had to fly to Dubai from Pakistan before the semis. South Africa stayed in Dubai for less than 24 hours and then returned without playing any match.
Australia, on the other hand, stayed in Dubai and later lost to India in their semi-final. This scheduling issue happened because India played all their matches in Dubai, as they did not want to travel to Pakistan due to political and safety reasons.
Miller said, “It’s only an hour and 40 minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal,” after South Africa’s 50-run loss to New Zealand on Wednesday. South Africa had made this trip soon after beating England in Karachi on Saturday.
He added, “It was early morning, right after a game, and we had to fly. We got to Dubai at 4:00 pm, and by 7:30 am we had to come back. It does not feel good. It’s not like we had a five-hour flight with enough time to relax and recover. It was not an ideal situation.”
Even though Miller scored an unbeaten century off 67 balls, it was not enough to stop South Africa from losing to New Zealand. Now, New Zealand will face India in the final on Sunday in Dubai, after setting a Champions Trophy record by scoring 362-6. Their score was helped by great centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson.
Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen also played well, making 56 and 69 runs respectively and adding a crucial 105-run partnership for the second wicket. However, New Zealand’s spinners, led by Mitchell Santner’s figures of 3-43, managed to restrict South Africa to 312-9.
Miller commented, “It’s not easy chasing 360 even if it’s a good pitch. I think the pitch got worse as the game went on and they used spin more than us. They just got a bit more grip from the pitch.”
When asked about the upcoming final, Miller said honestly, “I think I’ll be supporting New Zealand.”
