Courage and class of Miller sees Yorkshire over first T20 hurdle

WHEN Yorkshire rolled up for work at the Wanderers yesterday they could have been forgiven for thinking they were at Headingley stadium rather than the South African Highveld.

Intermittent rain wept from slate-grey skies, the pitch was tinged with a covering of grass, and the groans and grumbles from the Johannesburg cognoscenti could have come from the cloth caps in LS6.

Andrew Gale was sufficiently concerned by conditions to elect to bowl after winning the toss.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“With a bit of weather around, Duckworth-Lewis could come into it,” reasoned the Yorkshire captain, mindful that his side would perhaps be better off chasing and knowing what they had to do to stay ahead of any readjusted target.

As it turned out, the dark clouds dispersed, the sun broke through, and the Highveld sparkled in the still afternoon.

So, too, did Gale’s young side, winning a nip-and-tuck game by five wickets with three balls to spare after eclipsing their opponents’ total of 150-7.

Yorkshire’s hero was David Miller, who scored an unbeaten 39 from 29 balls with four fours and a six – statistics that told only half the story.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When he had made 22, Miller was struck on the nose by a short ball from Pakistan pace bowler Umar Gul that squeezed between the peak and grille of his helmet and forced to retire hurt with Yorkshire 91-4 in the 13th over.

It looked to have knocked the stuffing not only out of Miller but Yorkshire too, especially with Gul – one of world cricket’s best “death” bowlers – having a further two overs up his skilful sleeve.

But after an enterprising 18 from 21 balls by wicketkeeper Dan Hodgson, who insouciantly scraped Miller’s blood off the pitch before facing his first ball in Twenty20 cricket, Miller returned to apply the coup de grace, striking his final 17 runs from six deliveries.

Miller’s first shot back – with four balls remaining in the penultimate over – was a one-bounce four over point off Dilshan Munaweera, whose off-spin he then hit for a six over mid-wicket, a four through the covers and a cannily dabbled single to point.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It left Yorkshire wanting just three runs from Gul’s final over, and, after Miller and Adil Rashid traded singles, Miller won it with a single to mid-on off the bowler who had earlier dealt him that sickening blow.

Yorkshire, who will top their Champions League qualifying pool and advance to the tournament proper if they beat Trinidad & Tobago at Centurion today, were full value for a hard-earned victory, if not quite at their radiant best.

Their bowling was inconsistent; six wides in the opening six overs of power play – and another one later – would have been punished by a stronger side than Uva Next, who, in truth, were no more than competitive.

The fielding, too, was a curate’s egg: Miller took a fine diving catch at cover off Moin Ashraf to give Yorkshire their first wicket after the Sri Lankans started strongly to reach 42 inside six overs, but Steve Patterson spilled a caught-and-bowled chance off Thilina Kandamby having earlier kicked a ball over the boundary rope, while Rashid shelled the easiest caught-and-bowled in the game’s history when Kandamby patted back the dolly of dollies.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kandamby, the captain, was only two at the time and went on to top score with an unbeaten 29.

In front of a wretchedly sparse crowd in a stadium that accommodates 34,000, with the obligatory cheerleaders trying – and failing – to inject some atmosphere, Uva Next should really have posted 160-170 having reached 94-2 inside 13 overs, the second wicket having fallen on 56 when Rashid bowled Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

Instead they lost 4-27 in 27 balls as Patterson had Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught behind and Jacob Oram held at long-on by Gary Ballance, who also caught Andrew McDonald at long-on off Azeem Rafiq, who was the pick of the attack with 1-25.

Ashraf claimed his second victim when Chinthaka Jayasinghe slapped a full toss to deep mid-wicket, Ryan Sidebottom taking the other wicket when he splayed the stumps of Sachithra Senanayake in the final over.

In reply, Yorkshire attacked with trademark ferocity.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fifty-seven runs flowed off the power play overs, the bulk of them bludgeoned by Phil Jaques as the bowlers generally dropped too short, particularly the surprisingly ineffective Oram.

Wickets fell regularly, though, with Gale stumped in the second over and Joe Root caught at mid-on in the fifth, followed by two wickets in two balls in the eighth over.

Jaques drove a return catch to Munaweera, who then bowled Ballance off an inside edge to leave Yorkshire wobbling slightly on 66-4.

Miller and Rashid steadied the ship, the latter playing his part with an unbeaten Twenty20 career-best 36 from 30 balls to follow figures of 1-25 from three overs.

Rashid was handed the man-of-the-match award for his all-round efforts, but it was Miller’s courage and class that really won the day for Yorkshire.