On This Day: David Miller’s maiden IPL half-century powered Kings XI Punjab to chase 186 vs PWI

David Miller’s maiden IPL half-century: The Punjabi middle-order batsman changed the course of his match with his authoritative knock.

On this day in 2013, former Kings XI Punjab batsman David Miller had scored his maiden half-century in the Indian Premier League during the 29th match of the seventh season of the tournament against Pune Warriors India in Mohali.

After the then Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and invited the visitors in to bat, Pune posted a healthy 185/4 in 20 overs on the back of captain Aaron Finch’s third IPL half-century, 64 (42), with the help of eight fours and two sixes.

Miller, who came in to bat at No. 5 in the seventh over, saw his team needing 128 runs to win in 80 balls. The southpaw shared an unbeaten match-winning 128-run partnership for the fourth wicket alongside opening batsman Mandeep Singh before hitting the winning runs in the last over.

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It was on the penultimate delivery of the 10th over that Miller hit his first boundary in the form of a six off PWI all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. In the 12th over, Miller took on Pune spinner Ajantha Mendis as he hit him for a four and a six.

It was on the penultimate delivery of the 16th over that Miller ran a single off Pune all-rounder Luke Wright to complete his half-century. With KXIP requiring 45 runs to win in the last four overs, the then 23-year old South African player did most of the heavy-lifting to seal the chase.

David Miller’s maiden IPL half-century

With 29 needed off two overs, Miller hit Pune fast bowler Ashok Dinda for two consecutive boundaries on the first two deliveries of the penultimate over to reduce pressure.

Call it a slight miscalculation or the desperation to take wickets, Finch was left with no option than to hand the bowl to Wright for the last over. Capitalizing on the opportunity, Miller hit two sixes in the last over as Punjab scored 16 runs to win the match.

Miller earned the ‘Man of the Match’ award for scoring an emphatic 80* (41) with the help of five fours and five sixes. On the other hand, Mandeep ended up scoring his career-best IPL score of 77* (58).

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