Miller makes beating India look easy

It wasn't easy. Of course not. But, after David Miller's intervention to reroute South Africa's innings, it looked easy.

"It wasn't easy," Miller confirmed. "Playing against India is always really difficult. They've got an incredible team. When it's two big teams against each other, it's about making sure you do the simple things right for a longer period of time."

South Africa were 20/3 after four overs when Miller took guard. He shared 97 off 51 with Dewald Brevis and 35 off 21 with Tristan Stubbs, scoring 63 off 35 with seven fours and three sixes in a total of 187/7.

Then Marco Jansen took 4/22 and Keshav Maharaj claimed 3/24 as India were bowled out for 111 in 18.5 overs. South Africa's 76-run victory was India's second-heaviest defeat in T20Is while batting second.

What had the result taught Miller? "That India are beatable." What had the South Africans learnt about themselves? "In a tournament like this, it's about making sure we stay in our lane and getting the job done. We're a mature team. A lot of our guys have played a lot of cricket together. That goes a long way under pressure."

Like South Africa were when Miller walked to the middle after the early loss of three wickets.

"It felt really good to put a performance like that against India, a big team, in a big game," Miller said. "In those situations it's about making sure you're in good positions. I make sure that my intent is really good. You have to be able to put the bad balls away and pass the pressure on. We did that really well."

At 36, Miller is the oldest and most experienced player in South Africa's squad. He was undoubtedly the man for the moment.

"In high-pressure moments in front of a big audience, it's about sticking to the basics. My intent was to make sure I had limited movements, being nice and still when the ball was bowled, controlling my breathing, running hard—the simple things."

After Sunday, Miller and his teammates know they are likely one more win away from the semifinals. They needed to beat India to set up that scenario, and they did so more emphatically than they might have imagined. That wasn't easy, even though Miller made it look like it was.