LAHORE: South African batter David Miller has criticized the International Cricket Council (ICC) following his team’s semi-final defeat to New Zealand in the Champions Trophy at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Wednesday.
Expressing his frustration, Miller pointed to the scheduling and travel arrangements, which he believed negatively impacted South Africa’s performance.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding India’s semi-final opponent, both South Africa and Australia had to travel to Dubai after finishing their group-stage matches. However, after India’s victory over New Zealand, South Africa was required to fly back to Pakistan for their semi-final against the Kiwis, while Australia remained in Dubai to face India.
The left-handed batter, who scored a record-breaking century in the match, described the travel schedule as “far from ideal.”
“It’s only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal,” Miller said.
“It’s early morning, it’s after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4 p.m., and at 7:30 in the morning, we had to come back. It doesn’t make it nice. It’s not like we flew five hours and had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was still not an ideal situation,” he added.
Record-Breaking Performance
Despite the travel challenges, Miller delivered a stunning century off just 67 balls, the fastest in Champions Trophy history. He became the first player to reach a century in the tournament under 70 balls, breaking Virender Sehwag’s 23-year-old record of a 77-ball ton against England in 2002.
Miller also became the first South African batter to score two centuries in ICC knockout matches, having previously achieved the feat against Australia in the 2023 World Cup semi-final at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
However, his heroics were not enough as South Africa lost to New Zealand by 50 runs. The Kiwis will now face India in the final at Dubai International Stadium on March 9.
