David Miller joins elite list of batters featuring Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson with destructive 40-ball 82 against Pakistan in 1st T20I

Veteran Proteas batter David Miller came to his team's rescue in the first T20I of the series against Pakistan after top-order batters returned to the pavillion early. Miller seemed to be batting on a different track as he manhandled Pakistan bowlers to clear the boundaries at Kingsmead, Durban with ease. Miller's 40-ball 82 helped him enter the elite list of T20I batters as well. 

Miller has now become the sixth batter to score 400 or more runs against Pakistan in T20Is. He has 400 runs from 15 innings at an average of 50 including three half-centuries. The top spot is occupied by New Zealand's Kane Williamson (667 runs) followed by his teammates Mark Chapman (541 runs), Martin Guptill (526 runs), India's Virat Kohli (492 runs) and England's Eoin Morgan (427 runs). In the next few T20Is, Miller is likely to move up the list.

Milestones await Miller 

Miller also closed in on the list of top 10 run-scorers in T20Is. The southpaw currently occupies the 11th spot with 2,591 runs from 114 innings at an average of 33.21 including two centuries and eight half-centuries.

In the next T20I, he is expected to surpass Quinton de Kock and become South Africa's leading run-scorer in T20Is. The 35-year-old has 2,550 runs from 112 innings. He has played two T20Is for the World XI as well.  De Kock has 2,584 runs from 91 innings at an average of 31.51 including one century and 16 fifties.

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Miller goes berserk in Durban 

He walked out to bat early in the powerplay overs. In the powerplay overs, he hit a few fours. His first six was against Haris Rauf in the seventh over. Then, he smashed newbie Sufiyan Muqeem for a couple of sixes. Skipper Heinrich Klaasen's wicket did not affect him. He hit Abrar Ahmed for three consecutive sixes in the 10th over and reached his fifty from 27 balls. He continued to hit big until the 14th over as Shaheen Afridi got rid of him. Miller's knock was studded with eight sixes and four fours.

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After Miller's wicket, George Linde's 48 helped South Africa to a fighting total. Linde took four wickets as South Africa won the first T20I by 11 runs. Klaasen lauded Miller in the post-match presentation. 

"He (Miller) had a fantastic game. He has been working really hard and may it continue for long. Looking forward to all five games," he said.