For David Miller, Sunday’s Pink ODI held personal significance and ended with him sharing a long hug with his mother Jenny, who has fought her own battle with breast cancer.
Miller, wearing a specially made pink playing shirt that bore his mother’s name on the back, scored a career-best 142 and was named man of the match after the Proteas beat Australia by 32 runs at the Wanderers.
“My mom hasn’t stopped crying for the last 24 hours. It was really emotional,” Miller said.
“It’s been a tough couple of years. She told me after the game that she didn’t have enough make-up for all the tears.
“It was really cool to have my mom and dad here. To top it off with winning man of the match, doing really well, makes it really special, more so for her.”
Sunday’s innings was also crucial for Miller’s World Cup aspirations. The competition for middle order spots in the Proteas’ One-Day side is fierce and with Matthew Breetzke in red-hot form, the number of places available is diminishing.
“It was really important ... every single game for me, whether it is for SA or domestically, I want to contribute in the best way that I can.
“I’ve always wanted to make an impact. I’ve been around for a long time, so I want to put my hand up and lead from the front. I was hungry to do that after the first game.”
Miller struggled at Kingsmead, on a difficult pitch, scoring nine off 25 balls.
He was much more fluent on Sunday, after Breetzke and Temba Bavuma had seen off the hardness of the two balls in a 57-run partnership for the third wicket.
“It was quite tacky this morning. Matty B and Temba batted beautifully.
“One-Day cricket is long, so you do have time to get through a tricky period. It’s about holding tight and being nice and positive with your partner and feeding him the necessary information.
“Then you want to play nice and late and get in the flow. It got better, which was really cool.”
He shared a partnership worth 156 runs with his captain, who scored a vital hundred of his own.
“Temba’s innings was really special. It was great to put on a partnership with him,” Miller said.
Bavuma’s 103, along with Miller’s efforts, helped SA reach 365/9.
Like they did at Kingsmead, Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head got the tourists off to a rapid start, sharing an opening partnership of 130 in 17 overs.
“We thought we were going to get blown out of the water at one stage. It was tough to handle,” Miller said.
“When you are playing against the best and you miss by small margins, you can get dealt with.
“I suppose we went searching (for wickets) a bit up front. We started hitting better areas, we got a couple of dot balls and then got the breakthrough.”
Once again it was the performance of the spinners that changed the course of the match.
Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin were joined by Aiden Markram — playing his first international match since the T20 World Cup semifinal in March — in baffling the tourists.
Maharaj and Fortuin took two wickets apiece, while Markram trapped Head lbw, to start a period in the Australian innings, during which the Proteas bowled 18 consecutive overs of spin, snatching four wickets for 82 runs.
“Our bowlers are good at holding a good length and asking questions,” Miller said.
Jack Edwards, playing his second ODI, took 5/60 and said the tourists were surprised by how impactful SA’s spinners have been in the series.
“When the wicket is dry like that, the ball can spin sharply and then the next one slides straight on,” Edwards said.
“The lengths they were able to hold meant if you wanted to score a boundary, you had to take a considerable risk, and even just getting off strike was challenging as the wicket deteriorated.”