Broken nose fails to stop South African t20 batting hero (From Gazette & Herald)

Broken nose fails to stop South African t20 batting hero David Miller

11:19am Wednesday 10th October 2012 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle

David Miller combated a suspected broken nose to carry Yorkshire to a stunning Champions League t20 qualifying win over UVA Next from Sri Lanka at the Wanderers in Johannesburg yesterday.

The man White Rose second-team coach Paul Farbrace has nicknamed the county’s Lionel Messi demonstrated his magic touch after top-edging a bouncer from Umar Gul through his helmet grill during their pursuit of 151.

Miller retired hurt after the first ball of the 13th over with his side at 91-4, needing another 60 off seven overs to win.

But after wicketkeeper Dan Hodgson was bowled by part-time spinner Dilshan Munaweera with the second ball of the 19th over for a useful 18 off 21 balls, the left-hander strode back to the crease with 18 needed off ten balls.

He subsequently walloped the next three balls for two fours and a six before later hitting the winning runs to clinch victory by five wickets with three balls to spare and finish unbeaten on 39 off 29 deliveries.

The 23-year-old was then taken to hospital for a scan and immediately refused permission to fly back to Durban, where he was due to link up with the Dolphins squad today.

He will miss today’s second qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago at Centurion. A win will see Yorkshire secure a place in group ‘B’ of the main draw.

“Full credit to Davey, he showed a lot of character,” said first-team coach Jason Gillespie, who saw Adil Rashid clinch the man-of-the-match award with a wicket and a crucial 36 not out off 30 balls.

“He came back out and hit his straps straight away. He knew that he was going to have to face Gul in that last over too.

“We’re not sure how bad the injury is, but he’s in pretty good spirits. I think he’s on a high after the win.”

Earlier, Steve Patterson struck twice as UVA lost four wickets in 27 balls to slip from 94-2 after 12.3 overs to 121-6.

Moin Ashraf also struck twice and Ryan Sidebottom, Rashid and Azeem Rafiq once. Thilina Kandamby top-scored for them with an unbeaten 29 after Andrew Gale had won the toss.

Gillespie highlighted an off-colour display with the ball during the early stages of UVA’s innings as an area that needed improving during today’s clash with the West Indians at Supersport Park.

On a track with plenty of pace and bounce, Sidebottom struggled with his line in particular.

But not allowing Sri Lankan international opener Munaweera, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Bhanuka Rajapakse and Andrew McDonald to kick on from promising starts was key to restricting the total to a manageable one.

Yorkshire then got their chase off to a flier.

Gale hit Jacob Oram for two fours in the opening over before falling in the second, but Phil Jaques scored 32 off 21 balls as 57 runs came off the first six overs with Joe Root also losing his wicket.

But Munaweera (3-32) put the White Rose under pressure in the eighth over when he had Jaques caught and bowled and skittled Gary Ballance with successive deliveries to leave the score at 66-4.

Rashid and Miller initially steadied the ship before the excitement at the end.

Gillespie added: “It was a great finish, and I’m so proud of the lads the way they went about it. We’ve shown this season throughout t20 cricket that we can win from a lot of different situations.

“We can chase totals or defend them. I thought Adil Rashid was outstanding. He showed what he can do and what he’s capable of.”