Miller record ton ends Bangladesh's forgettable South African safari

Bangladesh were shown a rerun of all the humiliation they'd suffered on their South African tour in the final T20I courtesy David Miller's swashbuckling 36-ball 101, the fastest ever ton in T20I cricket. During an exemplary display of modern-day power-hitting, Miller unleashed nine sixes and seven fours to help the hosts post 224 on the board, a total that seemed beyond Bangladesh even at half-time. The second chapter didn't unfold any differently as the tourists kept losing regular wickets to end their tour without a win, losing the game by 83 runs.

Although Bangladesh amassed 17 in the opening over of the chase, the wheels came off rather quickly with a horrendous example of running between the wickets put on show. Soumya Sarkar nudged one straight to AB de Villiers before setting off for a quick single and Imrul Kayes had no chance to make his ground. Over a period of next four overs, Bangladesh were reduced to 45 for 4. Although Sarkar entertained with a flurry of boundaries, especially in the Dwaine Pretorius over where he hit him for three fours, he miscued a slog sweep off Aaron Phangiso in the ninth over to go back for a 27-ball 44.

There were a few swings thereafter but those were never enough to keep Bangladesh in the hunt. Eventually, the tourists were bowled out with nine deliveries to spare as South Africa won by 83 runs to remain undefeated across all forms against Bangladesh in the series. Phangiso and Duminy shared the spoils with two wickets apiece while every other bowler employed returned with a wicket each.

Earlier, the tourists won the toss and opted to field first. While the beginning wasn't as bad with Mangaliso Mosehle - one of the two changes made by the hosts - falling as early as in the third over. However, Amla's intentions were made clear right from the outset as he charged down to the bowler off the fourth ball to hit the first boundary of the innings. Over the next six deliveries he faced, he hit another six and a four to get the scoreboard up and running. JP Duminy could only last eight balls but de Villiers, who walked in next, smashed a six and a four off consecutive balls to set the tempo for the partnership. But it wasn't meant to last long as de Villiers timed one to perfection only to find the long-off fielder, who pulled off a brilliant catch at the edge of the fence.

Amla raised his eighth fifty and a delivery later, Miller was put down by 'keeper Mushfiqur Rahim on what was a tough chance. Miller was yet to open his account then and while he settled down away from Bangladesh's attention, Amla kept the attack on with regular boundaries coming off his bat. It was only in the 15th over when Miller sent one Mahmudullah delivery for a towering six to raise the 50-run stand that it seemed that he was in the zone on Sunday.

After picking two sixes off the following Rubel Hossain over, Miller launched a relentless attack on the rest of the bowling, even after Amla perished for an outstanding 51-ball 86. Such was Miller's carnage that Amla's knock by the end of the first innings had faded to the background. Striking five consecutive sixes of Saifuddin, Miller got into sniffing distance of a record ton. With back to back fours at the beginning of the final over and a couple after that, Miller recorded the fastest ever T20I ton, reaching the triple-figure mark off just 35 balls, beating Richard Levi's 45-ball record comfortably.

Brief Scores: South Africa 224/4 in 20 overs (David Miller 101*, Hashim Amla 85; Shakib Al Hasan 2-22) beat Bangladesh 141 in 18.3 overs (Soumya Sarkar 44, Mahmudullah 24; JP Duminy 2-23, Aaron Phangiso 2-31) by 83 runs.