There had only been 23 sixes hit in the 142.4 overs at Eisenhower Park before David Miller got ready to face Bas de Leede in the 19th over of South Africa's chase against Netherlands. That's an average of one six every 37 balls, and almost half the number we have become used to in 2024 where, before this T20 World Cup, a six was hit once every 19 balls in T20s. And Miller had yet to get one at this venue.
But, with South Africa 16 runs away, Miller flayed de Leede over short fine-leg and, four balls later, pulled him over deep square-leg to register two of the most important sixes of his career. And he knew just how significant the shots were.
"In your mind, you do have those thoughts, that it has been difficult to get boundaries and now we need boundaries. It's just about managing that space and really trusting that if the ball is there, you've got no other option but to take it down," Miller said at the post-match press conference. "Fortunately, it came off. It's just about being in that positive frame of mind and making sure that you really capitalise if they do give you a bad ball."
To be fair to de Leede, the deliveries were not that bad. But he did miss his lengths. His first, the one that went for six, was on the shorter side of good length. Then he went too short, and Miller took two runs, before de Leede sent down a good slower ball bouncer that could not be scored off. But damage was mostly done, and in attempting to keep the pressure on, de Leede went a touch too full and then a touch too short again. Miller hit those over extra cover for four and high into the stands to end the contest and enhance his reputation as one of the game's best finishers.
This was Miller's fourth 50-plus score in a successful T20I chase. He joined Quinton de Kock as the only South Africa batter to score four half-centuries in winning chases. While each of de Kock's efforts came in matches where the top-order batters contributed, this one from Miller was from a situation that seemed lost. South Africa were 12 for 4 in the fifth over and appeared to be imploding against a team that's had the better of them in their last two World Cup (T20 and ODI) meetings. Miller was part of their last specialist batting pair with Tristan Stubbs, but instead of panicking, he knew exactly what to do.
"In that situation, the only thing you can control, which I've learnt over the years, is the very next ball," he said. "You can quickly kind of fall under a lot of pressure because there's still 90 to get and you can't get those in one ball. So you have to take it just one ball at a time. I try to concentrate on the things that I can control: my breathing, my body language, and facing the next ball. And then obviously feeding a lot of confidence off your partner as well."
His partner here was Stubbs, who has grown over the last 12 months, with a first-class hundred for South Africa A, a domestic red-ball triple century, and his first Test caps.
Stubbs has learnt the art of discernment in stroke play, which can so often leave a T20 player out of shape - and did for Reeza Hendricks, who could not cover the line of a Logan van Beek ball that straightened, and Heinrich Klaasen, who tried to middle a pull off a length ball but did not get enough on it - and showed his ability to both defend and accumulate. Stubbs scored 12 singles, four twos - more than anyone else - and one three with just one four and one six and maintained the intensity South Africa needed.
"Stubbo was phenomenal out there," Miller said. "He always comes with a lot of energy. He's young and he's powerful. A batting line-up like ours are boundary strikers but it was about managing the singles, getting off strike, rotating the strike, and getting momentum through that."
New York pitch report card: No. 2 played better than No. 1 and No. 4
South Africa beat Netherlands at their own game and, importantly, showed themselves that they were capable of burying the ghosts of tournaments past where they were beaten by the same opposition. "We proved we are moving forward and dealing with these situations a bit better," Aiden Markram told broadcasters at the post-match presentation. "Sometimes, the wins aren't going to be pretty. To squeeze a win is massive for the change room."
Not least because South Africa have also demonstrated the ability to adapt to the pitches in New York, where they will play one more group match: against Bangladesh on Monday. With all eyes on the surface - and the ICC acknowledging the drop-in strips have fallen short of expectations and the game between India and Pakistan to come - Markam described the pitch for this game - No. 2 - as "a lot better" than No. 1, where they played Sri Lanka. Markram mentioned "a lot less sideways movement", although there was still some evidence of variable bounce, adding that a total of around 130 could have been match-winning.
Netherlands were 27 short of that, thanks largely to a superb spell from Ottneil Baartman, whose variations brought him figures of 4 for 11 in just his third international match. A bowler of Baartman's skill is what South Africa have often lacked at major tournaments, where they have relied on the raw pace of their quicks and the strength of their top-five batters. That left them with obvious gaps: sometimes in the fourth seamer roles, other times - like the previous two against Netherlands - in the middle order. It's only two matches into this event but the early signs are that they have patched those and are ready to take a more complete squad through this tournament.
As for Netherlands, they are by no means out of it. They head to the Caribbean to take on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with two points and having given the group's strongest team an almighty scare. Unlike in Adelaide two years ago, or Dharamsala last year, where the Dutch batted first, it was not quite enough. They shouldn't be too aggrieved.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time, it's enemy action."
Those were Goldfinger's words to James Bond in the 1959 classic, and just like the world's best-known spy, South Africa found a way out of trouble here when they needed to. They will want to keep that going.