David Miller held one end for South Africa to play out the overs in the Champions Trophy semi-final in an otherwise abject batting display chasing a massive score of 362 against New Zealand. Miller ended up scoring the century after South Africa were 218/8 in the 40th over.
South Africa’s knight in shining armour in knockout games, David Miller, dropped yet another banger of a knock, smashing his seventh ODI century, the second consecutive in an ICC ODI Semi-final but in a lost cause against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Lahore. At 218/8 in 39.3 overs, the Proteas’ innings wasn’t going anywhere. It trudged along to a point where South Africa were nine down and Miller had one option left, to go big and then go home.
48 runs were scored in the last three overs with Miller making all of them to smash the fastest century in the history of Champions Trophy off just 67 deliveries, breaking Virender Sehwag and Josh Inglis’ record, who both got to their tons in just 77 balls. Miller’s century was also the joint-fastest in an ICC ODI knockout match as he equalled Shreyas Iyer’s feat, who scored a 67-ball century in the ODI World Cup semifinal against the Black Caps in 2023.
Fastest century in Champions Trophy
67 balls – David Miller (SA vs NZ) – Lahore, 2025
77 balls – Josh Inglis (AUS vs ENG) – Lahore, 2025
77 balls – Virender Sehwag (IND vs ENG) – Colombo RPS, 2002
80 balls – Shikhar Dhawan (IND vs SA) – Cardiff, 2013
87 balls – Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL vs SA) – Centurion, 2009
Apart from Miller, it was a disappointing show from South Africa with both bat and ball. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat and probably won half the match there. It was a fabulous pitch for batting in Lahore and Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson probably enjoyed the best of the conditions. It was classic ODI batting as it could get. Ravindra didn’t shy away from playing his shots while Williamson took enough and more time to get set, take stock of the conditions and then fire to complete his 15th ODI hundred.
Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips fired in quick cameos at the end to take the total beyond the Proteas’ reach. To their credit, South Africa began well and at 125/1 in 22 overs, with the likes of Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller to come, the Men in Green were in a decent situation. However, going from 161/2 to 200/6 in a span of nine overs eventually hurt South Africa as their innings went nowhere. They never got the kick-on they needed throughout the innings, until the end.
