South Africa 224 for 4 (Miller 101*, Shakib 2-22) beat Bangladesh 141 (Sarkar 44, Duminy 2-23) by 83 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
After smashing the fastest T20I century, David Miller credited his team-mates for their support and spoke of his long-term goals in the line-up
David Miller smashed the fastest T20I century off 35 balls, beating countryman Richard Levi by 10 deliveries. In doing so, Miller took South Africa to a series win and a historic clean-sweep across formats against a visiting team, the first such instance in 17 tours in which they have played an opposition in all three formats. As a result, Bangladesh leave the country empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20Is, with Miller's mauling being the final nail in the coffin.
South Africa, with new coach Ottis Gibson at the helm, aimed to be as ruthless as possible in this early-season series, and underlined that intention with this performance, in their 100th T20 international.
Hashim Amla set the tone with his 85 off 51 balls and seemed set for a century but was dismissed in the 17th over, attempting to clear the midwicket boundary. Miller was on 42 off 20 balls at the time, with 21 balls left in the innings. Miller, however, needed only 15 of those to get the 58 runs that took him to a hundred, including five sixes in succession off Mohammad Saifuddin in the penultimate over of the innings.
Bangladesh had reason to rue that assault, for they could have dismissed Miller early in his innings, even before he had a run to his name. The second ball Miller faced was short from Rubel Hossain and he gloved it down the leg side. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper, dived one-handed to his right, got to the ball but could not hold on. In the next over, Miller charged Saifuddin and lofted a drive over the covers. Three fielders converged on the ball but the ball landed between them.
At that juncture in the game, Bangladesh were more concerned about Amla, who was timing the ball well and had sauntered to his fifty off 32 balls. He held together the first half of South Africa's innings, in which the visitors kept them fairly quiet. Shakib Al Hasan bowled both Mangaliso Mosehle and JP Duminy for single-digit scores and AB de Villiers holed out to long-off for 20. South Africa were 78 for 3 at the halfway stage when Amla began to up the ante.
He took on the short ball, which Bangladesh offered in abundance, and allowed Miller ample time to settle. Miller seemed to need it and could have been out a third time when he came out of his crease and edged Mahmudullah in the 15th over, with the ball rolling towards the stumps, but missing it eventually. Miller made it back in time and avoided being stumped. That was, however, the last of the nerves shown by him.
Miller slammed the next ball over long-off for the first of his nine sixes. There was much more to come. He dispatched Rubel to cow corner for four in the next over, then sent him over long-on for two sixes in the next three balls. By the time Amla was dismissed, Miller had got his eye in. He reached his half-century with a top-edge off a hook and followed that up by smashing a Taskin Ahmed full toss over long-on before the showstopper.
Saifuddin, who had figures of 2 for 22 from his first three overs, started his final over with a full, slower ball. Miller clobbered it for a six. Then, he went quicker but still full, outside off. Miller went inside-out over the covers for six. The third ball was also full, Miller shuffled across and flicked behind square leg for the third six. Then Saifuddin darted the next one full down the leg side and out came another flick for another six. It was only after he had been hit for four consecutive sixes that Saifuddin received some advice from his captain but to no avail. He went short and Miller pulled. For six.
Only two other players have hit six sixes in a row in an over in international cricket, one of them a South African - Herschelle Gibbs - and Miller was on the cusp of joining them. The final ball was full and wide and Miller went down on one knee but drove it along the ground for one. He was disappointed but kept strike, which enabled him to go for a hundred in the final over.
Miller fell over as he reached for a full Rubel delivery that he sent for four and then under-edged a full toss for four more before a brace of twos took him to the fastest hundred in this format. Farhaan Behardien, the non-striker, was as much a spectator as the beleaguered Bangladesh attack. While Shakib conceded only 22 runs off his four overs, the other five bowlers gave away 201 runs off 16 overs at 12.5 an over. Saifuddin's 31-run fourth over meant he finished with 2 for 53 but Miller could be heard commiserating with him as the teams left the field.
"Tough luck," Miller said. For Bangladesh, it only got tougher.
They have never scored over 200 in a T20 and needed 225 this time. They started well, with 17 runs off the first over but South Africa had a trick up their sleeve. Duminy brought himself on in the second over and should have had a wicket immediately. Soumya Sarkar took him on and sent the ball straight to Robbie Frylinck at mid-on, who had to take a simple catch but could not hold on. Duminy kept Sarkar quiet for the rest of that over and on the last ball, he was desperate to get a move on and called for a suicidal single after belting the ball into the covers. Miller collected and threw the ball wide of Mosehle, who had to move to his left but had enough time to gather and run Imrul Kayes out.
Rather than see himself as a novelty, Duminy continued and in his next over, struck the killer blow. Shakib made room and Duminy aimed at the stumps and bowled him. In the next over, Mushfiqur edged Frylink to Mosehle; Bangladesh were 32 for 3 before five overs were up and they had little opportunity left to stage a comeback. It was only a matter of time for them and all of South Africa's bowlers enjoyed some reward as they wrapped up a professional, clinical victory.
