Proteas ‘feeling really confident’ despite T20 series loss to India: Miller

David Miller says the Proteas remain confident as they play their final competitive T20 on Tuesday ahead of this month’s World Cup in Australia.

SA will have two warm-up friendlies soon after they arrive in Australia but the third and final T20 against India in Indore Tuesday (3.30pm SA time) will be anything but a dead rubber.

Miller smashed a 47-ball 106 not out in the second match against India in Guwahati on Sunday but it was in vain as SA fell 16 runs short of a huge target of 238. SA’s defeat saw India take the series 2-0.

But left-hander Miller says the Proteas are bullish despite the loss, which came after SA were cleaned up by the Indian seamers in a defeat by eight wickets in the first encounter.

“There are a lot of stories in the past, with one being Australia not doing too well before the T20 World Cup [last year] and they end up winning it,” the 33-year-old Miller said.

“I don’t think it's too much to worry about. As I said, there are a few areas we can work on and I think that will always be the case. We are feeling really confident in a lot of areas.”

The key to SA getting so close to India’s total on Sunday was enforcer Miller’s partnership with fellow left-hander Quinton de Kock. The duo shared an unbeaten 174-run fourth-wicket partnership, taking the visitors closer than many expected.

However, their slow start to proceedings, which saw them score 45 runs while losing two early wickets in the powerplay and then one right after its conclusion — Aiden Markram for 33 — played a role in handing India victory in the match and series.

Walking in to bat with the side on 47-3, Miller said he and De Kock decided to see how far they could take the innings.

“It was just about trying to bat as clearly as we could, form some sort of partnership and see where the game unfolded.

“We had to go, but we kind of took our time a bit — at that stage the partnership was a bit more important. We did that and got pretty close at the end, so it was a bit disappointing to not get the win.”

Miller feels SA’s batting and bowling departments are talented in their own right, and it is now just a case of both units being able to fire at the same time to be competitive throughout a match.

“If we have to be harsh on ourselves, our bowing department was extremely good in the previous game, and tonight they were slightly off in a few areas.

“In saying that, there were over 400 runs scored in the game, so I don’t want to be too harsh on the bowlers. It was a bit of lack of execution at times, there are a few areas we can work on and we still have some time leading up to the World Cup.”