David Miller, a South African middle-order hitter, will support New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against India in Dubai on Sunday. Miller openly supported the Black Caps, especially his pal Mitchell Santner, in a recent interview.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think I’ll be supporting New Zealand,” he said.
South Africa and New Zealand have a long history of friendship, but Miller’s well wishes may derive from tournament memories. Both teams made repeated travels between Pakistan and Dubai before the semi-finals, which was difficult.
New Zealand played their final group-stage encounter against India in Dubai last Saturday before traveling to Pakistan early Monday to prepare for their semi-final. However, South Africa flew from Karachi to Dubai on Sunday after defeating England, anticipating a semi-final. They returned to Lahore 12 hours after landing in Dubai when results revealed their fixture would stay there.
Miller acknowledged the journey was unsatisfactory.
“It’s only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal,” he said.
“We had to fly early in the morning after a game. We arrived in Dubai around 4 p.m. and returned at 7:30 a.m. It’s not pleasant. Not like we had time to recoup after a five-hour flight. “It was still not ideal,” he said.
Despite the hurdles, the left-handed batter said New Zealand won the semi-final. He scored an unbroken 100 from 67 balls, hitting his century on the penultimate ball—a heartbreaking finish.
He rocked his arms to celebrate his son’s arrival. He acknowledged he preferred team victories above personal ones. Good contributions, two front-line fifties. Our foundation was solid. He thought we lost too many wickets in the middle.
“Ultimately, it’s teamwork. All are doing their best. It would have been lovely to play India again, but life is unfair. “Trophy-winning requires hard work,” he said.
The 35-year-old also indicated that South Africa’s fate may have been decided in the first innings. After winning the toss and batting first, the Black Caps took advantage of better conditions as the sun reduced spin assistance.
Even on a decent wicket, chasing 360 [363] is difficult. Since there was no dew, the wicket probably deteriorated during the game. They spun the ball more than us. The wicket gave them more purchase “Miller said.
Miller stated his support for New Zealand but did not make any predictions.
“They’re both incredibly good teams,” remarked.
“India has shown the world their excellence. They’ve played fantastic cricket for years and have talented players. He predicted a tremendous game.
